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THE    REVIEW    OF    REVIEWS    ANNUAL,    1902.   X 


THE    GRHPH0PHONE. 


6RAND 

PRIX, 

HIGHEST 

AWARD 

PARIS 

EXPOSITION, 

1900. 


The  Talking  Machine  is  one  of 
the  important  inventions  of  the 
Nineteenth   Century.  I 

The   Graphophone 

represents  the  highest  achievement 
attained  in  the  development  of  the 
Talking  Machine  art. 

The  Grauhophone  is  the 
Perfected  Phonograph. 

The  "Qr«nd"  types,  using  large  cylinders,  reproduce  witK'the  full  volume  and  purity  of  sound 
of  the  original  rendition. 

Home-made  records  can  easily  be  made  on  the  Qraphophone  by  amateurs. 

Thirtyflve  Oifferent  Styles.  Every  One  is  a  Good  One. 

Prices    .    .    25  *  to  S32. 

H'riU/or  "Price  Book  I"  to 

COLUMBIA   PHONOGRAPH   COMPANY   Gen'l., 

122,  OXFORD  STREET,  LONDON,  W. 

New  York,  Chicago,  San   Francisco,  Philadelphia,   Baltimore,   Detroit,  Washington,  Buffalo, 
Boston,  Pittsburg,  8t.  Louis,  Minneapolis,  Paris,  Berlin. 


THE 

onl; 

T/SLKI 

MACH 

AMfARI 

TH* 

\rm 

'RD 


The  World's  Best  Talking  Mach.  le 


THE    AMERICANISATION 
OF    THE    WORLD 


OR 


The   Trend   of    the    Twentieth    Century. 


■  "We  fervently  believe  that  our  only  chance  of  national 
prosperity  lies  in  the  timely  remodelling  of  our  system,  so 
as  to  put  it  as  nearly  as  possible  upon  an  equality  with  the 
improved  manageniMit  of  the  Americans."  —  Richard 
CoBDEN,  1835. 


BY 

W.   T.    STEAD. 


PUBLISHED   AT 
THE     "REVIEW     OF     REVIEWS"     OFFICE, 

MOWBRAY    HOUSE,    NORFOLK    STREET,    LONDON,    \\.C. 

1902. 


PRINTED   1;Y    WILLIAM   CLOWES   AND   SONS,^  LIMITED,    STAMFORD   STRB;ET,    S.F. 
AND   28   GRKAT   WINDMIbL   STREET,    W. 


M. 


P  R  E  F  A  C  E. 


The  advent  of  the  United  States  of  America  as  the  greatest  of  world-Powers  is  the 
greatest  political,  social,  and  commercial  phenomenon  of  our  times.  For  some  years  past 
t  we  have  all  been  more  or  less  dimly  conscious  of  its  significance.  It  is  only  when  we  look 
^  at  the  manifold  manifestations  of  the  exuberant  energy  of  the  United  States,  and  the  world- 
(I  wide  influence  which  they  are  exerting  upon  the  world  in  general  and  the  British  Empire  in 
particular,  that  we  realise  how  comparatively  insignificant  are  all  the  other  events  of 
^  our  time. 

^  The   result   of  the    rapid    survey   which  I  have   embodied    in    this    Annual   will,    I  trust, 

i  enable  my  readers   to  see  in  its  true  perspective  the  salient  fiict  which  will  dictate  the  trend 
of  events  in  the  Twentieth  Centurv. 


^ 


{).  This   survey    is   intensely   interesting   to  all   men,   but   it   is   of    transcendant   importance 

^  for  my  own   countrymen.      For   we  are  confronted   by  the   necessity  of  taking   one  of  those 

momentous    decisions   which  decide   the   destiny   of    our    country.      Unless    I    am    altogether 

I  mistaken,    we    have    an     opportunity — probably    the    last    which    is    to    be    offered    us — of 

V  retaining  our   place  as   the  first  of  world-Powers.     If  we   neglect   it,  we   shall    descend   slowly 

^  but   irresistibly  to  the  position  of  Holland   and  of  Belgium.      No  one  who  contemplates  with 

an  impartial  mind  the  array  of  facts  now  submitted  to  his   attention,  will  deny  that  I  have  at 

least  made  out  a  very  strong  prima  facie  case    in    support  of  my  contention    that,  unless  we 

can   succeed   in    merging   the    British   Empire   in   the    English-speaking    I'nitcd    States   of  the 

World,  the  disintegration  of  our  Empire,  and  our  definite  displacement  from  the  position  of 

commercial  and   financial  primacy  is  only  a  matter  of  time,  and  probably  a  very  short  time. 

If,  on   the  other  hand,   we   substitute    for   the    insular    patriotism   of  our   nation   the   broader 

patriotism    of    the    race,    and    frankly   throw   in    our   lot   with    the   Americans    to    realise   the 

great  ideal  of  Race  Union,  we  shall  enter  upon  a  new  era  of  power  and   prosperity  the  like 

of  which  the  race  has  never  realised  since  the  world  began.     But  "  if  before  our  duty  we,  with 

•  listless  spirit,  stand,"  the  die  will  be  cast,  and  we  must  reconcile  ourselves  as  best  we  can  to 

accept  a  secondary  position  in  a  world  in  which  we  have  hitherto  played  a  leading  role. 

If,  on  the  contrary,  we  are  resolute  and  courageous,  we  have  it  in  our  power  to 
occupy  a  position  of  vantage,  in  which  we  need  fear  no  foe  and  dread  no  rival.  We  shall 
continue  on  a  wider  scale  to  carry  out  the  providential  mission  which  has  been  entrusted  to 
the  English-speaking  Race,  whose  United  States  will  be  able  to  secure  the  peace  of 
the  World. 

It  is,  therefore,  in   no  spirit  of  despair,  but  rather  with  joyful   confidence  and  great  hope 
^  that  I  commend  this  book  to  my  fellow-countrymen. 

Decemb.r,  1901.  W.  T.  STEAD. 

111794 


THE  AMERICANISATION  OF  THE  WORLD;, 


OR, 


THE  TREND  OF  THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY. 


PART  I. 

THE   UNITED   STATES  AND   THE   BRITISH   EMPIRE. 


Chapter  I. — The  English-Speakino  World. 

The  Americanisation  of  the  world  is  a  phrase 
which  excites,  quite  needlessly,  some  resentment 
in  Great  Britain.  It  is  even  regarded  as  an 
aflfront  to  England  to  suggest  that  the  world  is 
being  Americanised.  Its  true  destiny  of  course 
is  to  be  Anglicised.  And  many  are  quick  to 
discern  something  of  anti-patriotic  bias  in  the 
writers  who  venture  to  call  attention  to  the 
trend  of  the  Twentieth  Century. 

To  all  such  irate  champions  of  England  and 
the  English  it  is  sufficient  to  reply  that,  as  the 
creation  of  the  Americans  is  the  greatest  achieve- 
ment of  our  race,  there  is  no  reason  to  resent 
the  part  the  Americans  are  playing  in  re- 
fashioning the  world  in  their  image,  which, 
after  all,  is  substantially  the  image  of  ourselves. 
If  we  are  afflicted  with  national  vanity  we  can 
console  ourselves  by  reflecting  that  the  Ameri- 
cans are  only  giving  to  others  what  they  inherited 
from  ourselves.  Whatever  they  do,  all  goes  to 
the  credit  of  the  family.  It  is  an  unnatural 
parent  who  does  not  exult  in  the  achievements 
of  his  sons,  even  although  they  should  eclipse 
the  triumphs  of  his  sire,  as  much  as  the  victories 
of  Hannibal  threw  into  the  shade  the  exploits  of 
Hamilcar. 

Whatever  may  be  the  objections  that  are 
raised  from  one  side  or  the  other,  I  hope  the 
reader,  if  he  is  a  Briton,  will  at  least  be  able 
to  go  so  far  with  me  as  to  rejoice  in  contem- 
plating the  achievements  of  the  mighty  nation 
that  has  sprung  from  our  loins,  and  if  he  is  an 
American,  to  tolerate  the  complacency  with 
which  John  Bull  sets  down  all  his  exploits  to 
the  credit  of  the  family.  Without  that  element 
of  mutual  sympathy,  it  is  to  be  feared  the  survey 
of  the  process  which  I  have  dubbed  the  Ameri- 
canisation of  the  World,  is  not  likely  to  tend 
to  edification,  but  rather  to  recriminations,  cavil- 
lings, and  bittemess  of  spirit. 


Of  one  thing  the  Briton  is  assured.  However 
he  may  be  outstripped  and  overshadowed  by 
the  American,  no  one  can  deprive  us  of  the 
traditional  glories  which  encompass  the  cradle 
of  the  race.  "  The  purple  mist  of  centuries  and 
of  song  "  will  never  lift  from  these  small  islands 
on  the  northern  seas.  We  may  lose  our  primacy 
in  the  forging  of  iron  and  steel,  but  no  "  inva- 
sion "  can  deprive  us  of  the  indestructible  renown 
possessed  by  the  land  which  gave  birth  to  Alfred 
and  Cromwell,  to  Shakespeare  and  Milton,  to 
Burns  and  Scott.  And  as  men  will  ever  think 
more  highly  of  the  City  of  the  Violet  Crown  with 
its  Groves  of  Academe,  peopled  with  poets  and 
sages,  than  of  the  geographically  vast  expanse  ot 
Asiatic  empires,  so  it  may  well  be  that  England 
may  be  a  name  worn  ever  nearer  the  great  heart 
of  mankind  than  that  of  the  Continent-covering 
son  of  Anak,  whose  bulk  overshadows  the 
world. 

At  the  same  time — and  I  hasten  to  make  this 
admission  to  pacify  irate  American  readers 
resentful  of  the  suggestion  that  John  Bull  stands 
to  Brother  Jonathan  as  Athens  to  Persia — it  is 
possible  that  the  American  may  stand  to  the 
Briton  as  Christianity  stands  to  Judaism. 

As  it  was  through  the  Christian  Church  that 
the  monotheism  of  the  Jew  conquered  the  world, 
so  it  may  be  through  the  Americans  that  the 
English  ideals  expressed  in  the  English  language 
may  make  the  tour  of  the  planet.  The  parallel 
is  dangerously  exact.  For  there  is  too  much 
reason  to  fear  that  many  Americans  regard  the 
English  with  the  same  unfilial  ingratitude  that 
many  Christians  regard  the  Jew.  It  is  as  useless 
to  remind  them  that  the  men  of  the  Mayflower 
were  English,  as  it  is  to  remind  anti-Semites 
that  Christ  and  His  apostles  were  Jews.  Yet 
it  was  through  the  Christian  Church,  too 
often  unmindful  of  its  Jewish  parentage,  that 
the  ethical  ideals  of  the  Jew  permeated  and 
civilised  the  world.    The  philosopher  recognises 


fc.      Ji 


The  English- Speaking  World. 


that  the  world-mission  of  the  Jews  was  only 
fulfilled  through  the  Nazarene  whom  they  cruci- 
fied ;  and  so  in  years  to  come  the  philosophical 
historian  may  record  that  the  mission  of  the 
English  fulfilled  itself  through  the  American. 
The  Americanisation  of  the  world  is  but  the 
Anglicising  of  the  world  at  one  remove. 

That  the  United  States  of  America  have  now 
arrived  at  such  a  pitch  of  power  and  prosperity 
as  to  have  a  right  to  claim  the  leading  place 
among  the  English-speaking  nations  cannot  be 
disputed.  The  census  returns  at  the  beginning 
and  the  end  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  are 
conclusive.     The  figures  stand  thus  : — 

i8oi.  1901. 

The  United  Kingdom         15,717,287  41,454,578 

The  United  States     (1800)  5,305,925    (1900)  76,299,529 

If  it  be  objected  that  the  population  of  the 
United  Kingdom  is  only  a  fraction  of  the 
King's  subjects,  let  us  add  to  the  population  of 
the  United  Kingdom  every  white-skinned  person 
in  the  British  Empire,  and  let  us  at  the  same 
time  deduct  from  the  population  of  the  United 
States  all  men  of  colour.  The  figures  will  stand 
thus : — 

1801,  1901. 

The  British  Empire      .     16,000,000        55,000,000 
The  United  States        .       4,300,000        b6,ooo,ooo 

If  any  one  objects  that  we  have  not  included 
the  myriads  of  India  among  British  citizens, 
the  answer  is  easy.  We  are  comparing  the 
English-speaking  communities.  The  right  of 
leadership  does  not  depend  upon  how  many 
millions,  more  or  less,  of  coloured  people  we 
have  compelled  to  pay  us  taxes.  It  depends 
upon  the  power,  the  skill,  the  wealth,  the 
numbers  of  the  white  citizens  of  the  self- 
governing  State. 

It  may  be  said  that  it  is  absurd  to  group 
together  as  English-speaking  men  millions  who, 
like  the  Canadians  of  Quebec  and  the  colonists 
in  Mauritius,  only  speak  French,  or,  like  the 
Dutch  of  South  Africa,  only  speak  the  Taal. 
This,  it  may  be  objected,  unfairly  swells  the 
British  total.  But  against  this  we  must  offset 
the  millions  of  emigrants  who  have  studded  the 
United  States  with  patches  of  the  Old  World, 
and  who,  until  the  next  generation  has  been 
passed  through  the  schools,  cannot  be  described 
as  English  speakers.  Roughly  speaking,  the 
figures  given  above  may  be  said  to  represent 
the  comparative  numerical  strength  of  the  two 
sections  of  the  English-speaking  world.  The 
Republican  section  has  forged  ahead  of  that 
which  clings  .to  the  Monarchy.  Nor  is  there 
any  prospect  that  their  relative  positions  will 
be  reversed.  As  John  the  Baptist  said  of  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  so  Britain  may  say  to  the  United 
States,    "  He     must     increase,    but     I     must 


decrease."     The  Baptist  did  not  repine  ;  neither 
should  we. 

The  Briton,  instead  of  chafing  against  this 
inevitable  supersession,  should  cheerfully  ac- 
quiesce in  the  decree  of  Destiny,  and  stand  in 
betimes  with  the  conquering  American.  The 
philosophy  of  common-sense  teaches  us  that^ 
seeing  we  can  never  again  be  the  first  standing 
alone,  we  should  lose  no  time  in  uniting  our 
fortunes  with  those  who  have  passed  us  in  the 
race.  Has  the  time  not  come  when  we  should 
make  a  resolute  effort  to  realise  the  unity 
of  the  English-speaking  race  ?  What  have 
we  to  gain  by  perpetuating  the  sen  ism  that  we 
owe  to  the  perversity  of  George  the  Third  and 
the  determination  of  his  pig-headed  advisers  "  to 
put  the  thing  through  "  and  chastise  the  insolence 
of  these  revolted  colonists  by  "  fighting  to  a 
finish  "  ?  As  an  integral  part  of  the  English- 
speaking  federation,  we  should  continue  to  enjoy 
not  only  undisturbed,  but  with  enhanced  pres- 
tige, our  pride  of  place,  while  if  we  remain 
outside,  nursing  our  Imperial  insularity  on 
monarchical  lines,  we  are  doomed  to  play  second 
fiddle  for  the  rest  of  our  existence.  Why  not 
finally  recognise  the  truth  and  act  upon  it  ? 
What  sacrifices  are  there  which  can  be  regarded 
as  too  great  to  achieve  the  realisation  of  the 
ideal  of  the  unity  of  the  English-speaking  race  ? 

Consider  for  a  moment  what  at  present  is 
the  distribution  of  the  surface  of  this  planet 
among  the  various  races  of  mankind.  Instead 
of  counting  Britain  and  the  United  States  as  two 
separate  and  rival  States,  let  us  pool  the  resources 
of  the  Empire  and  the  Republic  and  regard 
them  with  all  their  fleets,  armies,  and  industrial 
resources  as  a  political,  or,  if  you  like,  an  Imperial' 
unit. 

The  P^nglish-speaking  States,  with  a  popula- 
tion of  121,000,000  self-governing  white  citizens,, 
govern  353,000,000  of  Asiatics  and  Africans. 
Under  their  allied  flags  labour  one-third  of  the 
human  race. 

The  sea,  which  covers  three-fourths  of  the  sur- 
face of  the  planet,  is  their  domain.  Excepting  on 
the  Euxine  and  the  Caspian,  no  ship  dare  plough 
the  salt  seas  in  P2astern  or  Western  hemisphere 
if  they  choose  to  forbid  it.  They  are  supreme 
custodians  of  the  waterways  of  the  worlds 
capable  by  their  fiat  of  blockading  into  sub- 
mission any  European  State  contemplating  an 
appeal  to  the  arbitrament  of  war. 

Of  the  dry  land,  they  have  occupied  and  are 
ruling  all  the  richest  territories  in  three  con- 
tinents. With  the  exception  of  Siberia  they 
have  seized  all  the  best  gold-mines  of  the  world. 
There  is  hardly  a  region  where  white  men  can 
breed  and  live  and  thrive  that  they  have  not 
appropriated.  They  have  picked  out  the  eyes  of 
every  continent.     They  reign  in  the  land  of  the 


lO 


The  Antertcanisation  of  the  World. 


Pharaohs,  they  have  conquered  the  Empire  of 
Aurungzebe,  and  have  seized  with  imperious 
hand  the  dominions  of  Spain.  They  have 
<lespoiled  the  Portuguese,  the  French,  and  the 
Dutch,  and  have  left  to  the  German  and  the 
Italian  nothing  but  the  scraps  and  knuckle- 
bones of  a  colonial  dominion. 

The  net  result  works  out  as  follows : — 


Square 
miles. 


The  United  States     3,754,000 
The  British  Empire  11,894,000 


Populations. 

I 
White.  Coloured. 


66,000,000 
55,000,000 


Total 


20,OCX3,000 
333,000,000 


15,648,000  121,000,000,353,000,000 


The  rest  of  the  world  cuts  but  a  poor  figure 
compared  with  the  possessions  of  the  English- 
speaking  allies. 


Square 
miles. 


Population. 


White. 


Coloured. 


Russia  .  .  .1  8,754,000121,000,000  12, 000, coo 
China  .  .  .:  1,327,308  ..  ..  400,000,000 
Latin  America  .|  8,215,858  15,000,000  60,000,000 
France  .  .  .,  3,845,000:  39,000,000;  46,000,000 
Germany  .  .  .\  1,238,000'  55,000,000  15,000,000 
Rest  of  the  world  113,293,000  134,000,000  129,000,000 


The  lion's  share  of  the  world  is  ours,  not  only 
in  bulk,  but  in  tit-bits  also.  The  light  land  of 
the  Sahara  is  not  worth  a  centime  an  acre.  The 
vast  area  of  German  South  Africa  would  hardly 
provide  a  livelihood  for  the  population  of  a 
middle-sized  German  village.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  the  Rhine,  the  Danube,  the  Amour, 
the  Volga,  and  the  Plate  Amazon,  nearly  all 
the  great  navigable  rivers  of  the  world  enter 
the  sea  under  the  Union  Jack  or  the  Stars 
and  Stripes.  The  Valley  of  the  Yang-tse 
Kiang  is  ear-marked  as  the  sphere  of  our 
influence.  The  whole  of  the  North  American 
Continent,  from  the  North  Pole  to  the  frontier 
of  Mexico,  is  within  the  ring  fence "  of  the 
English-speaking  race,  and  from  the  whole  of 
Central  and  Southern  America  all  trespassers 
have  been  emphatically  warned  off  by  the 
proclamation  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 

Population  should  be  weighed  as  well  as 
counted.  In  a  census  return  a  Hottentot  counts 
for  as  much  as  a  Cecil  Rhodes ;  a  mean  white 
on  a  southern  swamp  is  the  census  equivalent 
for  Mr.  J.  P.  Morgan  or  Mr.  Edison.  A  nation 
which  has  no  illiterates  can  hardly  be  coimted 


off"  against  the  Russians,  only  three  per  cent,  of 
whom  can  read  or  write.  Excluding  France 
and  Germany  and  the  highly  civilised  group  of 
small  states,  Scandinavian,  Dutch  and  Swiss, 
the  English-speaking  world  comes  out  easily 
on  top,  no  matter  what  test  of  civilisation  is 
employed.  We  have  more  schools  to  the 
square  mile,  more  colleges  to  the  county,  more 
universities  to  the  State  than  any  of  the  others. 
We  print  more  books,  read  more  newspapers, 
run  more  libraries.  We  have  more  churches 
per  hundred  thousand  of  the  population,  and 
attend  them  better.  Our  death-rate  is  diminish- 
ing even  more  rapidly  than  our  birth-rate,  our 
pauperism  is  decreasing,  our  criminal  statistics 
are  reassuring.  Only  in  one  respect  do  we  fall 
below  the  average.  We  are  the  most  drunken 
race  in  the  whole  world — the  most  drunken  and 
in  both  our  branches  the  most  pharisaical.  We 
are  as  piratical  as  the  worst  of  our  neighbours, 
but  we  alone  make  broad  our  phylacteries  while 
we  are  plundering,  and  pray  while  we  prey.  In 
all  the  material  tests  of  advancing  civilisation, 
railways,  steamships,  telephones,  telegraphs, 
electric  trolleys,  sanitary  appliances,  and  the 
like,  we  beat  the  world. 

If  from  a  comparison  between  the  English- 
speaking  duality  and  the  rest  of  the  planet  we 
pass  to  a  comparison  between  the  two  English- 
speaking  races,  some  curious  results  come  out. 
The  United  States,  which  has  shot  ahead  of  us 
in  population,  has  comparatively  only  a  small 
area.  The  total  superficial  area  of  the  United 
States  is  only  3,603,844  square  miles  on  the 
mainland.  The  total  area  of  Cuba,  Porto  Rico, 
and  the  Philippine  Islands  will  not  add  more 
than  100,000  square  miles  to  that  total.  But 
the  British  Empire  has  3,456,383  square  miles 
in  Canada,  3,076,763  in  Australia,  and  1,808,258 
in  India.  The  vast  expanses  of  Canada  and 
Australia  are  but  sparsely  peopled;  there  is 
elbow  room  in  both  for  a  greater  population  than 
that  which  the  United  States  carries  to-day. 
The  following  comparison  of  populations  is 
interesting,  excluding  coloured  persons : — 


England     . 

Wales  .      .      , 
Scotland     . 
Ireland. 

Canada 

Australia    . 
New  Zealand 
South     Africa 

and 
Miscellaneous 


1901 

31,231,684 

1,294,032 

4,471,957 

4,456,546 

15,185,990 

\    (1900) 
3,726,450 

773.440 

1,000,000 
(estimated) 


United  States 
(not  including 
those  below) 

Virginia 

Illinois . 

New  York. 

Pennsylvania  . 

Missouri     . 
Connecticut 

Nebraska  , 


1900 

57,422,000 

1,854,184 
4,821,550 
7,118,012 

6,302,115 

3,106,665 
908,355 

1,068,539 


These  figures  do  not   pretend  to  be  exact. 
No  one  really  knows  how  many  white  citizens 


The  English-Speaking  World. 


II 


of  the  British  Empire  are  scattered  over  the 
myriad-peopled  regions  where  we  maintain  the 
Roman  peace,  how  many  are  on  the  high  seas, 
and  how  many  are  doing  sentry-go  all  round 
the  world.  A  million  is  probably  not  an  unfair 
estimate.  The  comparison  is  interesting,  and 
may  be  suggestive  to  some  readers  who  have 
never  quite  realised  that  there  are  single  states 
in  the  American  Union  with  a  population  greater 


than  that  of  the  whole  Dominion  of  Canada  or 
of  the  kingdom  of  Scotland. 

When  the  comparison  is  made  between  finance, 
railways  and  shipping,  and  there  is  no  distinction 
made  between  coloured  and  white  men,  the 
British  Empire,  with  its  multitudinous  host  of 
dark-skinned  races,  is  easily  preponderant. 
The  comparison  works  out  somewhat  as  fol- 
lows : — 


Area. 

Revenue. 

Railways. 

Shipping. 

Kxports 

and 
Imports. 

United  Kin<;doni     . 
Colonies     and     Depen- 
dencies      .... 

Sq.  Miles. 
i         121,000 

11,429,000 

120,000,000 
110,000,000 

Miles. 
21,659 

54,000 

Tons. 
9,164,000 

1,019,808 

815,000,000 
201,078,891 

Total 

United  States     .     .      . 

11,550,000 
3,700,000 

^^230,000,000 
139,000,000 

75.659 
184,278 

10,183,808 
4,864,000 

1,016,078,891 
380,000,000 

Grand  Total     .     . 

15,250,000 

^^369,000,000 

259.937 

15,047,808 

1.396,078,891 

Mr.    Chauncey    McGovern    contributed    to  and  Russia,   France,  and  Spain,  from  which  I 

Pearson's    Magazine    last    October    a    curious  extract  the  following  Table : — 
comparison  between-  the  English-speaking  States 

The  English-Spo.-ilc'ng  United  States  of  thj  World.  Russia,  France,  and  Spain. 

Area 15,636,000  square  miles.  12,320,000  square  miles. 

Population       ....            473,500,000  217,218,000 

Revenue ^^379,800,000  ;^  133, 103,000 

National  Debts     .      .      .     ^^  1,560, 705, 000  ^2,281,951,000 

Railways 267,150  miles.  67,260  milts. 

Exports ^^825,251,600  ^^239,920,600 

Merchant  Ships    .      .      .              19,236,000  tons.  3,037,000  tons. 

Naval  Guns     ....                    13,319  io,993 

A     more     detailed     comparison      between      the  English-Spcaking.                 Russia,  Germany,  and  France. 

English-speaking   States    and   France,    Russia,  Shipphi^. 

and  Germany,  was  made  by  Sir  Richard  Temple  11,000,000  tons.    |    3,750,000  tons. 

in   September,    1899.     ^   quote   his   figures  as 

they  stand  without  attempting  to  bring  them  up  Ftshencs. 

to  date  : —  320,000    |    100,000 

English-Speaking.                   Russia,  Germany,  and  Spain.  Loal  Uutput. 

p  J.  J  ,■  405,000,000  tons.    I     138,000,000  tons. 

White.      .     125,000,000    I     White.      .     221,000,000  Iron  Ore. 

Coloured  .     350,000,000    |    Coloured  .       64,000,000  25,000,000  tons.     |    20,000,000  tons. 

475,000,000    I                          285,000,000  Revmtu. 

;^377,ooo,ooo    I    ^^405, 000,000 

Area. 

15^  millions  square  miles.     |     13J  millions  square  miles.  Armtes. 

1,000,000    I    7,000,000 
Coast  Lme. 

62,000  miles  and  19  first-    |     17,000  miles,  5  harbours.  .                   Aavtes. 

rate  harbours.  410  ships.    |    381  ships. 

.„          Ml                 1  'This  represents  a  greater  factor  of  organised 

3  ,       mi  es.    I    79,500  mi  es.  force  than  has  ever  before  been  at  the  disposal 

Annual  Trade.  of  a  single  race. 

/■  1, 600, 000,000   1    ;^  1,120,000,000  The   question   arises   whether    this   gigantic 


ti ■ 


ii 

m 


i! 

ffii 
II 
ill 

m 


THl'.    LATE    PRMSIDKNT    McKIXI.EY. 


^i 


i^^^M>pt;^;^iBiM^^^^^^^M 


The  EtiglisJi-Speaking   World 


aggregate  can  be  pooled.  We  live  in  the  day 
of  combinations.  Is  there  no  Morgan  who  will 
undertake  to  bring  about  the  greatest  combina- 
tion of  all — a  combination  of  the  whole  English- 
speaking  race  ? 

The  same  motive  which  has  led  to  the  building 
up  of  the  Trust  in  the  industrial  world,  may  bring 
about  this  great  combination  in  the  world  ot' 
politics.  This  is  not  a  sentimental  craze.  The 
question  is  prompted  by  the  most  solid  of 
material  considerations.  Why  should  we  not 
combine?  We  should  be  stronger  as  against 
outside  attack,  and  what  is  of  far  greater  im- 
portance, there  would  be  much  less  danger 
of  the  tierce  industrial  rivalry  that  is  to  come 
leading  to  international  strain  and  war.  New 
York  competes  with  Massachusetts  and  Penn- 
sylvania with  Illinois,  but  no  matter  how  severe 
may  be  the  competition,  its  stress  never  strains 
the  federal  tie.  States  in  a  federal  Union  are  as 
free  to  compete  with  each  other  as  are  towns  in 
an  English  county,  but  being  united  in  one 
organic  whole  the  war  of  trade  never  endangers 
the  public  peace.  Why  should  we  not  aim  at 
the  same  goal  in  international  affairs  ?  If  the 
English-speaking  world  were  unified  even  to  the 
extent  of  having  a  central  court  for  the  settle- 
ment of  all  Anglo-American  controversies,  our 
respective  manufacturers  would  be  free  to  com- 
pete without  any  risk  of  their  trade  rivalry 
endangering  good  relations  between  the  Empire 
and  the  Republic.  And  that  would  be  again 
worth  making  no  small  sacrifice  in  order  to 
secure. 

The  tendency  of  the  last  half  century  has  been 
all  in  favour  of  the  unification  of  peoples  who 
speak  the  same  language.  It  is  not  likely  to 
slacken  in  the  new  century.  The  Nineteenth 
Century  unified  Germany  and  Italy.  Will  the 
Twentieth  Century  unify  the  English-speaking 
race? 

It  is  a  momentous  question.  The  remem- 
brance of  the  via  dolorosa  of  blood  and  tears 
by  which  the  German  race  attained  to  unity 
may  well  deter  the  timid  from  suggesting  that 
the  English-speaking  world  should  essay  to 
reach  the  same  goal.  But  the  story  of  how  the 
Germans  realised  their  national  unity  is  full  of 
suggestion  for  us,  both  for  encouragement  and 
for  warning.  For  the  German  race  a  hundred 
years  since  was  very  much  like  the  English- 
speaking  race  to-day.  Austria  then  was  what 
Great  Britain  is  now.*     She  had  the  prestige 


*  When  I  was  revising  the  proofs  of  this  chapter,  I 
was  considerably  surprised  to  find  that  the  London 
correspondent  cf  the  Novoye  Vremya  in  October  last  had 
already  called  attention  to  the  analogy  between  Great 
Britain  and  Austria.  He  pushed  the  parallel  still 
further  home.  He  declared  that  the  true  parallel  of  the 
present  situation  ir.ust  be  sought  not  in  the  relations  that 


of  antiquity,  the  Imperial  aureole  was  round 
her  brotv,  she  reigned  over  many  races  of 
various  tongues,  and  she  was  as  proud  as 
Lucifer.  Over  against  her  were  the  Prussians 
— the  Americans  of  their  time.  They  were 
young  and  enterprising ;  the  Hohenzollems 
were  but  upstart  parvenus  beside  the  Haps- 
burgs,  but  they  had  the  genius  for  organisation, 
the  instinct  for  education,  and  a  passionate 
patriotism.  Between  these  two  lay  the  minor 
German  States,  who  corresponded  not  inaptly 
to  the  various  English-spedking  Colonies  which 
look  to  Britain  as  iheir  natural  head,  very  much 
as  the  South  German  States  regarded  Austria, 
who  presided  over  the  Bund,  as  the  pivot  of  the 
German  political  system.  In  the  presence  of 
national  livalries  so  intense,  and  political 
barriers  so  innumerable,  the  idea  of  German 
unity  seemed  an  idler  dream  in  i8,oi  than  the 
idea  of  English-speaking  unity  seems  in  1901. 

We  are  all  familiar  with  the  consequence  of 
allowing  the  German  race  to  persist  in  its  dual 
organisation.  As  Bismarck  wrote  in  1856 : 
"  For  a  thousand  years,  ever  since  the  reign  of 
Charles  ^'.,  German  Dualism  has  regularly 
resettled  its  mutual  relations  once  a  century' 
by  a  thorough-going  internal  war,  and  in  this 
century  also  that  will  prove  to  be  the  only 
feasible  expedient  for  arranging  matters  satis- 
factorily.* 

Ten  years  later  Bismarck,  at  Sadowa,  settled 
matters  to  his  satisfaction  at  least,  but  to  this 
day  one  menace  to  the  peace  of  central  Europe 


existed  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century 
between  Prussia  and  Austria,  but  rather  in  those  which 
existed  at  present  between  the  German  Empire  and 
Austria,  for  in  his  opinion  the  United  States  have 
already  established  over  Great  Britain  the  same  kind  of 
protectorate  as  the  German  Empire  has  established  over 
the  Austrian  member  of  the  Triple  Alliance.  He 
says  : — 

"Everthing  proves  that  CJreat  Britain  is  now  practi- 
cally dependent  upon  the  United  States,  and  for  all 
international  intents  and  purposes  may  be  considered  to 
be  under  an  American  protectorate. 

"Just  as  Germany  has  used  Austria  for  her  own  pur- 
poses, while  guarding  her  from  external  and  internal 
dangers,  so  does  America  take  advantage  of  British 
needs  and  weakness,  caring  for  England  only  in  so  far  as 
self-interest  prompts  it.  The  United  States  has  but  just 
entered  upon  the  policy  of  exploiting  the  protected 
kingdom.  .  .  . 

"The  British  have  lost  all  pride  in  their  relation  to 
the  United  States.  They  admit  that  they  cannot 
successfully  resist  the  republic.  They  no  longer  trust  to 
their  strength,  but  place  their  reliance  on  the  racial, 
literary,  and  social  ties  which  attract  the  Americans  to 
England.  In  this  surrender  to  the  Americans  there  is  a 
sentimental  motive  as  well  as  a  practical  one.  Losing 
her  maritime,  commercial,  and  even  financial  primacy. 
England  can  bear  with  more  resignation  the  passing  of 
this  primacy  to  a  nation  akin  to  her  in  language, 
civilisation,  and  even  blood." 

*  "  Our  Chancellor."     lUisih,  vol.  i.  p.  323. 


14 


Tfie  Americanisation  of  the  World. 


arises  from  the  fact  that  some  eight  million 
Germans  were  left  outside  the  national  fold. 

Between  the.  two  sections  of  the  English- 
speaking  race  there  has  been  one  war  a  century 
so  far.  There  is  too  much  reason  to  fear  that 
the  average  will  be  kept  up,  unless  in  some  way 
or  other  the  mischievous  work  of  George  III. 
can  be  undone.  It  is,  of  course,  manifestly 
impossible,  even  if  it  were  desirable,  for  the 
Americans  to  come  back  within  the  pale  of 
the  British  Empire.  But  if  that  is  impossible, 
there  remains  the  other  alternative.  Why 
should  not  we  of  the  older  stock  propose  to 
make  amends  for  the  folly  of  our  ancestors  by 
recognising  that  the  hegemony  of  the  race 
has  passed  from  Westminster  to  Washington, 
and  proposing  to  federate  the  Empire  and  the 
Republic  on  whatever  terms  may  be  arrived 
at  after  discussion  as  a  possible  basis  for  the 
reunion  of  our  race  ? 

The  suggestion  will  be  derided  as  a  dream. 
But  to  quote  the  familiar  saying  of  Russell 
Lowell,  "  It  is  none  the  worse  for  that ;  most  of 
the  best  things  we  now  possess  began  by  being 
dreams." 

Mr.  Balfour,  six  years  ago,  declared  "  that  the 
idea  of  war  with  the  United  States  of  America 
carries  with  it  something  of  the  unnatural  horror 
of  civil  war."  Since  then  many  things  have 
happened  to  strengthen  that  sentiment.  But 
even  then  he  could  use  these  eloquent  words : — 

"  I  feel,  so  far  as  I  can  speak  for  my  countrymen,  that 
our  pride  in  the  race  to  which  we  belong  is  a  pride  which 
includes  every  English-speaking  community  in  the  world. 
We  have  a  domestic  patriotism,  as  Scotchmen  or 
Englishmen  or  as  Irishmen,  or  what  you  will,  we  have 
an  Imperial  patriotism  as  citizens  of  the  British  Empire  ; 
but  surely,  in  addition  to  that,  we  have  also  an  Anglo- 
Saxon  patriotism  which  embraces  within  its  ample  folds 
the  whole  of  that  great  race  which  has  done  so  much  in 
every  branch  of  human  effort,  and  in  that  branch  of 
human  effort  which  has  produced  free  institutions  and 
free  communities." 

And  he  added  some  words  of  wisdom  with  which 
I  will  close  this  chapter : — 

"NVe  may  bo  taxed  with  being  idealists  and  dreamers 
in  this  matter.  I  would  rather  be  an  idealist  and  a 
dreamer,  and  I  look  forward  with  confidence  to  the  time 
when  our  ideals  will  have  become  real  and  our  dreams 
will  be  embodied  in  actual  political  fact.  For,  after  all, 
circumstances  will  tend  in  that  direction  in  which  we 
look." 

In  a  subsequent  chapter,  I  attempt  to 
describe  some  of  these  circumstances  which 
already  enable  us  to  foresee  the  trend  of  the 
Twentieth  Century : — 

"  Where  is  a  Briton's  Fatherland  T 
Will  no  one  tell  me  of  that  land  ? 
Tis  where  one  meets  with  English  folk, 
And  hears  the  tongue  that  Shakespeare  spoke, 
Where  songs  of  Burns  are  in  the  air, 
A  Briton's  Fatherland  is  there. 


Our  glorious  Anglo-Saxon  race 
Shall  ever  fill  earth's  highest  place, 
The  sun  shall  never  more  go  ilown 
On  English  temple,  tower  and  town  ; 
And  wander  where  a  Briton  will, 
His  Fatherland  shall  hold  him  still." 


Chapter  II. — The  Basis  for  Reunion. 

Let  it  be  admitted,  if  only  for  the  sake  of  our 
argument,  that  the  establishment  of  English- 
speaking  unity  is  a  matter  to  be  desired  in  the 
interest  alike  of  the  peace  of  the  world  and  the 
liberties  of  mankind.  The  question  next  arises, 
how  can  this  unity  most  easily  and  effectually 
be  brought  about  ?  In  attempting  to  answer 
this  question,  I  disclaim  in  advance  any  accusa- 
tion that  I  am  imperilling  the  end  in  view  by 
an  inconsiderate  precipitance  in  pressing  for  the 
adoption  of  measures  that  promise  to  lead  in 
that  direction.  I  only  seek  to  discuss  ten- 
dencies, to  estimate  forces,  and  to  forecast  the 
probable  course  of  the  natural  evolution  of  the 
existing  factors  in  the  Empire  and  the  Republic, 
and  in  the  nations  on  their  frontiers.  In 
presence  of  a  problem  so  immense,  fraught  with 
consequences  so  momentous  for  the  weal  or 
woe  of  mankind,  it  would  be  presumption  to 
attempt  to  proclaim  solutions  before  the  govern- 
ing factors  have  been  clearly  discerned. 

Nevertheless,  it  may  not  be  impossible  for 
even  the  cursory  observer  to  see  the  trend 
of  events,  if  he  keeps  his  attention  fixed  upon 
the  salient  features  of  the  situation.  If  the 
two  English-speaking  States  are  to  come  to- 
gether, it  is  obvious  that  there  must  be  some 
approximation  tovs^ards  a  system  which  may  be 
accepted  by  all  the  world-scattered  communities 
of  English-speaking  men.  This  being  admitted, 
the  question  immediately  arises  as  to  whether 
the  Empire  will  approximate  to  the  Republic, 
or  the  Republic  to  the  Empire.  Are  we  to 
Americanise  our  institutions,  or  may  we  expect 
to  see  the  Americans  anglicising  their  Constitu- 
tion? Or  may  we  anticipate  that  the  future 
normal  system  of  polity  for  the  English-speaking 
world  will  be  arrived  at  by  such  an  exact  balance 
between  the  English  and  American  •  elements, 
that  the  product  will  be  strictly  Anglo-American, 
and  not  more  American  than  it  is  Anglo  ? 

It  is  not  very  difficult  to  answer  these  ques- 
tions. In  the  first  place,  what  is  the  funda- 
mental difference  between  the  British  and 
American  Constitutions  ?  That  which  differenti- 
ates them  much  more  than  the  fact  that  the  head 
of  one  is  hereditary  and  of  the  other  elective,  is 
the  fact  that  we  have  no  written  Constitution  of 
any  kind,  whereas  the  American  Constitution  is 
the  best  known  type  of  a  written  Constitution  in 


Ciii.    — V 


I'ltnch,  Nov,  27,  1901. 


COLONEL    JONATHAN    J.    lUI.I. 
Ok,  What  John  B.  may  cii>tK   10. 


(/>>  tlu  Sfccial  pcriiiissio  t  n/thc  Prflfirh  tors  oj  "!  u-ich. 


i6 


The  Americanisation  of  the   World. 


existence.  The  Constitution  of  the  reunited 
English-speaking  race  must  of  necessity  be 
M-ritten,  Not  even  the  most  uncompromising 
Britisher  would  venture  to  suggest  that  mankind 
will  ever  again  attempt  to  repeat  the  experiment 
which  has  worked  for  so  long  with  such 
miraculous  success  in  Great  Britain.  If  we 
seek  for  confirmation  of  this,  we  have  only  to 
turn  to  the  recent  history  of  our  greatest 
colonies.  When  the  Dominion  of  Canada  was 
constituted,  the  federation  was  embodied  in  a 
written  Constitution.  Last  year  the  same  thing 
occurred  in  the  creation  of  the  Commonwealth 
of  Australia.  If  Mr.  Gladstone  had  succeeded 
in  carrying  his  Home  Rule  Bill,  that  measure 
would  have  been  the  written  Constitution  or 
fundamental  Charter  of  the  new  Government  of 
Ireland.  The  adoption  of  some  sort  of  written 
Constitution  is  therefore  inevitable,  and  by  its 
adoption  the  fundamental  feature  of  the  Re- 
united States  would  become  American,  not 
British. 

After  the  difference  of  written  and  un- 
written Constitutions,  the  Empire  and  the 
Republic  differ  most  visibly  in  the  way  in  which 
they  appoint  their  heads.  The  Americans  elect 
their  President  for  four  years.  The  British 
crown  for  life  the  eldest  son  of  the  deceased 
sovereign. 

The  comparative  advantages  of  a  Constitu- 
tional Monarchy  and  of  a  democratic  Republic 
need  not  be  discussed  here.  The  Americans 
themselves  might  be  the  first  to  object  to  the  dis- 
appearance of  the  Monarchy.  The  Crown  might 
remain  as  a  picturesque  historical  symbol,  as  a  dis- 
tinctively British  institution  as  local  as,  although 
much  more  ornamental  than,  the  London  fog. 
But  not  even  the  most  perfervid  Royalist  in 
his  wildest  dreams  can  conceive  the  possibility 
of  the  Americans  ever  consenting  to  become 
the  loyal  subjects  of  a  descendant  of  George  III. 
Even  if  they  developed  a  taste  for  monarchy, 
they  would  make  it  the  first  condition  of  their 
sovereign  that  he  should  be  a  thorough  Ameri- 
can. No  foreign-born  citizen,  no  matter  what 
service  he  may  have  rendered  the  Slate,  no 
matter  how  long  he  may  have  been  naturalised, 
can  occupy  the  presidential  chair,  even  for 
the  space  of  four  years.  If  the  Head  of 
the  State  were  to  occupy  the  American  throne 
for  life,  and  leave  it  to  his  sons  and  his 
sons'  sons  after  him,  the  condition  of  genuine 
native  born  Americanism  would  be  insisted 
upon  more  passionately  than  ever.  The 
conversion  of  the  Americans  to  the  principle 
of  monarchy,  instead  of  facilitating  the  race 
union,  woukl  create  a  new  and  very  serious 
obstacle  in  the  shape  of  rival  dynasties.  Of 
that,  however,  there  is  fortunately  no  danger. 
If,  therefore,  race  union  is  to  be  accomplished, 


the  future  head  of  the  Reunited  States  will  be 
elective  and  republican,  even  if  the  monarchy 
continues  to  be  cherished  in  these  islands  as  a 
distinctly  local  institution.  Here  also  the  mould 
of  the  future  destinies  of  our  race  will  be  American 
and  not  British. 

After  the  monarchy,  the  American  differs 
from  the  British  Constitution  chiefly  in  the 
repudiation  by  the  former  of  the  principle  of 
hereditary  legislation  and  of  an  Established 
Church,  and  the  acceptance,  with  all  its  logical 
consequences,  of  the  principle  of  government 
of  the  people  by  salaried  representatives  chosen 
by  constituencies  in  strict  proportion  to  their 
numbers,  as  ascertained  at  each  decennial  census. 
These  are  the  notes  which,  to  the  casual  observer, 
differentiate  the  two  Constitutions.  Which  of 
them  will  be  the  key-note  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  Reunited  Race  ? 

In  discussing  this  question  let  us  assume  that 
the  Americans  themselves  will  be  passive  in  this 
matter,  and  that  the  decision  to  be  taken  will 
rest  solely  with  the  subjects  of  the  King.  If  a 
plebiscite  were  to  be  taken  to-morrow,  and  ever}- 
white  male  adult  in  the  Empire  were  to  be  asked 
to  vote  for  or  against  hereditary  legislation,  an 
Established  Church,  and  our  present  illogical 
system  of  unpaid  Parliamentary  representation, 
what  would  be  the  result  ?  It  is  more  than  prob- 
able that  even  now  the  majority  of  British  sub- 
jects would  be  in  favour  of  the  American  view. 

In  England,  no  doubt,  the  majority  would  be 
in  favour  of  the  ancient  time-honoured  institu- 
tions. But  Wales  and  Ireland  would  cast  heavy 
majorities  on  the  other  side,  and  it  is  extremely 
doubtful  whether  Scotland  would  not  go  the 
same  way.  The  most  significant  factor,  however, 
remains  to  be  noticed.  We  boast  that  we  have 
encircled  the  world  with  self-governing  colonies, 
but  without  a  single  exception  every  one  of 
these  colonies,  while  rejoicing  in  the  shelter  of 
the  Union  Jack,  and  enthusiastically  loyal  to 
the  person  of  the  Sovereign,  has  organised  its 
own  Constitution  on  American  as  opposed  to 
British  lines.  Not  a  colony  has  transplanted 
across  the  seas  either  a  hereditary  chamber, 
an  Established  Church,  or  the  English  system 
of  unpaid  unequal  representation.  The  descen- 
dants of  George  the  Third  retained  the  allegiance 
of  the  colonies  by  allowing  them  one  and  all  to 
frame  their  constitutions  on  the  principles  of 
George  Washington,  The  English  segment  of 
Great  Britain  may  be  true  to  the  distinctive 
British  institutions,  but  Greater  Britain  repudiates 
them  with  absolute  unanimity. 

Mr.  Whitelaw  i'eid  was  the  American  special 
representative  at  the  Jubilee  of  1897.  He  saw 
London  in  the  very  heyday  of  British  loyalty 
and  enthusiasm.  Among  the  thousands  who 
thronged  our  capital,  none  were  more  demon- 


^^mmmMMmmmmmmmmmm  mmm  mmm^ml 


*^3n;3^»--;>»;^<-J?«;3>^.>j^,.^;>j-J>,o-^»s^2>,>,^^ 


i8 


The  Americanisation  of  the   World. 


stratively  loyal,  more  impassioned  in  their 
expressions  of  devotion  to  the  Old  Country  and 
its  institutions  than  the  Colonial  Premiers.  But 
Mr.  \\'hitela\\  Reid,  who  studied  them  closely, 
was  startled  to  discover  that  one  and  all  of  these 
highly  placed  Ministers  of  the  Crown  were,  to 
quote  his  own  phrase,  ''  downright  Yankees." 
1  asked  him  to  explain  that  dark  and  Delphic 
saying.  He  replied :  "  What  I  mean  is  that 
these  men  are  not  in  the  least  like  British 
Ministers  or  any  of  your  English  politicians. 
Their  point  of  view  is  American.  Their  political 
ideas  are  the  same  as  ours.  They  are  loyal  to 
the  Queen,  no  doubt,  but  that  is  a  thing  apart. 
In  their  work-a-day  politics  they  are  as  Repub- 
lican as  ourselves.  They  start  from  the  same 
principles,  they  reason  in  the  same  way,  and 
they  arrive  at  the  same  conclusions.  Not  one 
of  them  would  tolerate  a  House  of  Lords  in 
their  own  colony,  or  an  Established  Church. 
Even  on  Free  Trade  their  ideas  are  more 
American  than  British.  In  talking  to  them  I 
am  never  conscious  of  that  break  of  gauge 
which  I  constantly  feel  in  talking  to  a  British 
statesman." 

We  may  take  it,  then,  as  tolerably  manifest 
that  the  distinctively  British  institutions  of  a 
hereditary  legislature  and  an  Established  Church 
will  not  figure  among  the  institutions  of  the 
Reunited  Race,  even  though  they  may  be 
left  for  a  time  to  linger  in  England.  It  is 
even  possible  that  the  growth  of.  a  popular 
desire  in  England  itself  to  rid  ourselves  of 
these  institutions  may  lead  indirectly  to  union 
with  the  great  English-speaking  community 
which  is  freed  from  their  evil  influence  ?  All 
this  means  one  thing  and  one  thing  only. 
It  is  we  who  are  going  to  be  Americanised ; 
the  advance  will  have  to  be  made  on  our  side ; 
it  is  idle  to  hope,  and  it  is  not  at  all  to  be 
desired,  that  the  Americans  will  attempt  to  meet 
us  half  way  by  saddling  themselves  with  institu- 
tions of  which  many  of  us  are  longing  earnestly 
to  get  rid. 

Even  if  there  were  no  other  reason  for  this, 
sufficient  cause  would  be  found  in  the  fact  that 
while  every  American  is  an  enthusiastic  believer 
in  his  own  Constitution,  it  is  difficult  to  find  an 
Englishman  who  does  not  admit  that  his  own 
Constitution  is  in  a  very  bad  way. 

I  do  not  confine  this  remark  to  the  Irish,  the 
Welsh,  and  the  English  and  Scotch  Liberals. 
They  are  naturally  in  revolt  against  the  per- 
manent veto  upon  all  Liberal  legislation  vested 
in  the  permanent  majority  which  their  political 
opponents  enjoy  in  the  Upper  House.  I  find 
the  bitterest  complaints  against  the  breakdown 
of  .the  constitutional  machine  in  the  Conserva- 
tive Quarterly,  and  in  the  speeches  of  thorough- 
going Ministerialists.  The  Parliamentary  machine 


has  broken  down  before  our  eyes.  That  fact 
there  is  none  to  dispute.  Authorities  differ  as 
to  the  cause  of  the  breakdown,  and  they  differ 
still  more  widely  as  to  the  remedy  to  be  em- 
ployed. But  not  even  the  most  self-satisfied 
advocate  for  things  as  they  are  speaks  of  the 
spectacle  at  Westminster  except  in  accents  of 
shame  and  despair. 

Contrast  this  with  the  tone  in  which  every 
American  habitually  speaks,  and  what  is  more, 
actually  thinks,  of  his  Constitution.  Mr.  Bryce, 
in  the  very  first  page  of  his  admirable  work  on 
the  American  Commonwealth,  calls  attention  to 
the  immense,  almost  religious,  respect  which  the 
Americans  pay  to  their  institutions.  It  is  not 
merely,  says  Mr.  Bryce,  that  they  are  supposed 
to  form  an  experiment  of  unequalled  importance 
on  a  scale  unprecedentedly  vast.  It  is  because 
they  are  something  more  than  an  experiment : 
"  they  are  believed  to  disclose  and  display  the 
type  of  institutions  toward  which,  as  by  a  law  of 
fate,  the  rest  of  civilised  mankind  are  forced  to 
move,  some  with  swifter,  others  with  slower,  but 
all  with  unresting  feet." 

When  you  have  two  parties  in  counsel,  one 
of  whom  is  heartily  ashamed  of  his  system, 
while  the  other  is  absolutely  convinced  that  his 
system  is  so  perfect  that  its  ultimate  universal 
adoption  is  only  a  matter  of  time,  it  needs  no 
prophet  to  foresee  which  system  will  be  adopted 
as  the  result  of  their  consultations.  Nor  can  we 
be  surprised  at  the  American's  reverence  for  his 
Constitution  when  we  read  the  terms  in  which 
it  has  been  spoken  of  by  eminent  Englishmen. 
Was  it  not  Mr.  Gladstone  who  declared — 

"  The  American  Constitution  is,  so  far  as  I 
can  see,  the  most  wonderful  work  ever  stmck 
off  at  a  given  time  by  the  brain  and  purpose  of 
man.  It  has  had  a  century  of  trial,  under  the 
pressure  of  exigencies  caused  by  an  expansion 
unexampled  in  point  of  rapidity  and  range ; 
and  its  exemption  from  formal  change,  though 
not  entire,  has  certainly  proved  the  sagacity  of 
the  constructors  and  the  stubborn  strength  of 
the  fabric."  * 

Nor  is  Mr.  Bryce  less  emphatic,  although  not 
so  brief.  Speaking  of  the  American  Constitu- 
tion, he  says  : — 

"  After  all  deductions,  it  ranks  above  every 
other  written  Constitution  for  the  intrinsic 
excellence  of  its  scheme,  its  adaptation  to  the 
circumstances  of  the  people,  the  simplicity, 
brevity,  and  precision  of  its  language,  its 
judicious  mixture  of  definiteness  in  principle 
with  elasticity  in  details."  \ 

It  is  a  notable  and  significant  circumstance 
that   the   one    statesman   who    has    repeatedly 

*  "Gleanings  of  Past  Years,"  by  W.  E.  Gladstone, 
vol.  i.,  p.  212. 

t  Bryce's  *'  American  Commonwealth,"  vol.  i.  p.  27, 


The  Basis  for  Reimion. 


19 


directed  the  attention  of  the  British  public  to 
the  exceeding  excellence  of  the  American 
Constitution  is  none  other  than  the  Marquis  of 
Salisbury,  the  Tory  Prime  Minister.  It  does 
not  matter  that  what  he  admires  most  in  it  is 
the  security  which  it  offers  against  reckless  inno- 
vation, and  the  guarantee  which  it  gives  to  liberty 
of  contract  and  the  right  of  every  man  to  do  what 
he  will  with  his  own.  The  fact  remains  that 
more  than  once  Lord  Salisbury  has  cast  a 
longing  eye  across  the  Atlantic  to  the  American 
Constitution,  lamenting  that  our  own  Constitu- 
tion contained  no  such  safeguards  as  those 
provided  by  the  wisdom  of  the  Fathers  of  the 
American  Republic. 

Still  more  remarkable  is  the  declaration  of 
Mr.  Cecil  Rhodes,  who  long  ago  set  forth  with 
his  accustomed  bluntness  that  for  the  salvation 
of  the  British  Empire  only  two  things  were 
needed,  "  Home  Rule  and  a  preferential  tariff, 
and  if  you  ask  me  why  I  believe  in  Home  Rule 
and  what  I  mean  by  it,  I  say  to  you  read  the 
American  Constitution." 

What  more  need  have  we  of  witnesses  ? 

The  only  consolation  that  can  be  oflFered  to 
the  susceptible  Briton  is  that  the  American 
Constitution,  like  the  American  people,  owes 
its  origin  to  the  island  which  was  the  cradle  of 
the  race.  The  Americans,  in  fashioning  their 
Constitution,  imported  it  from  England  via 
France,  to  which  country  they  subsequently  re- 
exported it,  in  spirit  though  not  in  form,  with 
results  not  even  yet  fully  worked  out.  Montes- 
quieu, by  his  eulogistic  panegyric  upon  the 
English  Constitution  in  his  "  Esprit  des  Loix," 
became  the  Godfather  of  the  American  Con- 
stitution. But  it  was  the  Puritan  principles 
of  free  democracy  which  we  exported  in  the 
Mayflower  that  fashioned  and  prepared  the 
founders  of  the  American  Commonwealth  for 
their  famous  achievement.  So  it  may  fairly  be 
contended  that  in  the  Americanising  of  the 
English-speaking  world  it  is  the  spirit  of  Old 
England  reincarnate  in  the  body  of  Uncle  Sam. 


Chapter  HI. — The  Amkricanisation  of 
Ireland. 

It  is  an  interesting  subject  of  speculation  how 
the  Americanising  of  the  British  Empire  will 
be  brought  about.  Many  forces  are  working 
steadily  in  that  direction,  the  significance  of 
which  is  very  imperfectly  revealed  to  our  eyes. 
One  of  the  chief  of  these  is  seldom  realised,  for 
its  operation  is  silent  and  subtle  as  the  law  of 
gravitation.  It  is,  indeed,  no  other  than  the 
law   of   gravitation   operating   in   the   political 


world.  Among  the  heavenly  bodies  the  less 
revolve  around  the  greater.  The  mass  tells. 
You  cannot  build  a  solar  system  in  which  any- 
of  the  planets  is  larger  and  heavier  than  the  sun. 

A  hundred  years  ago  Great  Britain  was  the 
sun  of  the  political  system  of  the  English 
world.  Her  population  was  sixteen  millions, 
whereas  the  population  of  the  United  States 
was  only  live  millions.  The  Americans  had 
torn  themselves  off  from  the  British  con- 
nection, but  they  still  felt  the  pull  which  a 
compact  mass  of  sixteen  millions  exercises 
continuously  upon  a  body  only  one-third  its 
bulk.  For  three-quarters  of  the  century 
that  silent  force  of  gravitation  exerted  its  in- 
fluence in  a  continually  diminishing  degree, 
until  after  a  time,  the  two  nations  being 
equipoised,  the  position  of  the  two  States  was 
reversed.  The  United  States  now  began  to 
exert  the  pull  upon  the  United  Kingdom.  The 
operation  of  this  unseen  force  was  for  a  time 
obscured,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  smaller 
nation  had  taken  to  itself  vast  masses  of  Asiatic 
and  African  subjects.  But  after  a  time  it  was 
perceived  that  they  had  not  made  these  men 
citizens,  and  it  is  only  citizens  who  count.  The 
hundreds  of  millions  of  dusky  subjects  in  Hin- 
dostan  add  nothing  to  the  intrinsic  strength  of 
the  British  people.  They  constitute  part  of  *'  the 
White  Man's  Burden."  As  elements  in  the 
problem  of  political  gravitation  they  only  count 
because  they  tend  to  obscure  the  perception  of 
the  real  forces  governing  the  situation.  The 
real  kernel  and  nucleus  of  both  States  is  to  be 
found  in  their  white  citizens.  The  mutual  in- 
fluence of  Britain  on  America  and  of  America 
on  England  depends  upon  the  number  and  the 
intelligence  of  their  citizens  and  the  intensity  of 
their  cohesion.  That  cohesion  is  not  neces- 
sarily geographical.  It  is  in  its  essence  moral, 
emotional,  and  intellectual.  In  the  voluntary 
association  of  free,  self-governing  citizens  lies 
the  secret  of  the  strength  of  the  State. 

Herein  we  touch  upon  another  element  of 
weakness  which  tells  heavily  against  Great 
Britain  in  comparison  with  the  United 
States.  The  citizens  of  the  United  States,  to 
the  last  man,  are  voluntary  citizens.  They  are 
proud  of  their  citizenship.  There  are  no  un- 
willing subjects  in  the  whole  Republic.  There 
are  millions,  literally  millions,  who  have  been 
bom  in  other  lands,  but  the  foreign  bom  vie 
with  the  natives  in  their  exultant  pride  in 
being  citizens  of  the  United  States.  When  we 
turn  our  eyes  to  the  British  Empire  we  are 
confronted  with  a  very  different  state  of  things. 
Close  at  our  doors  lies  a  country  as  populous 
as  any  but  the  two  largest  states  in  the 
American  Union,  the  majority  of  whose  inhabi- 
tants are  in  a  chronic  state  of  latent  rebellion. 

c  2 


^^^^^^^^1                        "    ^^^n 

1 

r        IObL  y       '  _-»^-^-  *  'a^^ 

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II^Bjjj^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^  -  .o^ss^SShr^ 

...-^— -^^     J 

-^^WHBBfl^^^' 

HOUSES    OF    PARLIAMENT,    WESTMINSTER. 

(Photograph  hy  the  London  Stereoscopic  Co.) 


THE    CAPITOL'  AT    WASHINGTON. 


The  Amcricanisation  of  Ireland. 


21 


The  majority  of  the  Irish  people  acquiesce 
sullenly  in  the  irresistible  logic  of  force  majeure. 
They  are  not  proud  of  British  citizenship. 
They  loathe  it.  They  accept  representation  at 
Westminster  solely  in  order  that  they  may  use 
the  vote  which  they  are  allowed  to  exercise  as 
the  only  available  substitute  for  the  pike  and  the 
rifle,  the  use  of  which  is  denied  to  them.  In  this 
broad  survey  of  the  comparative  strength  of  the 
two  great  sections  of  the  English-speaking  world, 
it  is  impossible  not  to  recognise  in  Ireland  the 
Achilles  heel  of  the  Empire.  Our  failure  to  win 
the  allegiance  of  the  Irish  is  the  most  fatal 
element  in  the  sum  of  blunders  which  are 
transferring  the  leadership  of  our  race  to  our 
sons  beyond  the  sea. 

Less  than  forty  years  ago  the  United  States  of 
America  were  torn  in  twain  by  the  bloodiest 
civil  war  of  our  time.  For  nearly  five  years 
the  whole  nation  was  preoccupied  with  fratri- 
cidal strife.  In  the  end  the  North  conquered. 
The  South,  beaten  flat,  crushed,  desolated  and 
despairing,  sued  for  peace.  The  seceding  States 
were  forced  back  into  the  Union  at  the  point 
of  the  bayonet.  But  despite  all  waving  of 
the  "  Bloody  Shirt,"  despite  a  million-  graves 
of  slaughtered  men,  and  the  yawning  chasm 
between  the  victors  and  the  vanquished,  the 
breach  was  healed  by  the  re-establishment  of 
Home  Rule.  When  the  war  broke  out  with 
Spain  no  recruits  rallied  to  the  defence  of  the 
Star-spangled  banner  more  heartily  than  the 
sons  of  the  men  who,  under  Davis  and  Lee, 
had  shed  their  blood  in  the  attempt  to  destroy 
the  Union.  Uncle  Sam  has  no  unwilling 
subjects,  not  even  in  the  former  stronghold  of 
secession. 

The  contrast  between  the  complete  recon- 
ciliation which  has  been  effected  between  North 
and  South  in  America  and  our  utter  failure  to 
effect  even  a  modus  vivendi  between  the  English 
and  the  Irish,  affords  a  measure  of  the  differ- 
ence between  the  political  genius  of  the  American 
Republic  and  of  the  liritish  Empire.  The  secret 
lies  in  the  fact  that  the  Americans  have  frankly 
and  fully  recognised  the  principle  of  government 
by  the  consent  of  the  governed,  whereas  only 
one-half  of  the  English  have  ever  accepted  it. 
The  old  virus  of  absolute  government,  which  was 
the  curse  of  England  in  the  Seventeenth  Century 
under  the  Stuarts,  came  back  after  the  Common- 
wealth at  the  Restoration,  and  was  not  entirely 
exorcised  in  1688.  It  revived  in  the  Eighteenth 
Century  under  George  III.,  with  the  result 
that  we  lost  our  American  colonies.  In  the 
Nineteenth  we  succeeded  in  suppressing  it  every- 
where excepting  in  Ireland.  Here,  thanks  to 
the  House  of  Lords,  we  were  able  to  indulge 
the  fatal  propensity  inherent  in  our  Conserva- 
tives of  trying  to  govern  a  nation  without  its 


consent,  against  its  will,  and  in  opposition  to  its 
ideas.  As  a  result,  we  have  Ireland  and  the 
Irish  as  an  element  not  of  strength,  but  of 
weakness.  They  are  as  salt  in  the  mortar  of 
Empire,  whose  weakening  and  dissolving  in- 
fluence is  by  no  means  confined  to  the  United 
Kingdom.  The  presence  of  unwilling  subjects, 
of  men  made  citizens  without  their  consent,  is 
ever  a  source  of  weakness  to  States.  But  so  far 
are  we  from  having  learned  that  lesson  that  for 
the  last  two  years  we  have  been  lavishing  all 
the  resources  of  the  Empire  in  a  desperate  at- 
tempt to  compel  within  the  pale  of  our  dominions 
the  most  stubborn  and  unwilling  set  of  subjects 
the  world  has  ever  seen.  An  expenditure  of 
20,000  lives  and  ;^20o,ooo,ooo  has  been  incurred 
for  the  purpose  of  forcing  the  South  African 
Dutch  to  submit  to  our  dominion.  We  have 
killed  thousands  and  devastated  their  land  in 
order  to  make  them  "  our  subjects."  If  they 
had  been  willing  to  become  our  fellow-citizens 
they  would  have  been  a  source  of  strength. 
As  men  forced  by  war  to  submit  to  our 
yoke  they  will  become  a  source  of  abiding 
weakness.  We  shall  have  two  Irelands  on  our 
hands  instead  of  one,  and  each  affords  only 
too  tempting  an  opportunity  for  those  who 
may  use  the  Americanising  trend  of  our  time 
for  the  purpose  of  detaching  either  or  both 
from  the  Empire  of  which  at  present  they  form 
a  part. 

In  view  of  the  possibilities  opened  up  before 
us  by  the  catastrophe  which  has  destroyed  our 
self-governed  dominion  in  South  Africa,  it  may 
not  be  without  profit  if  we  were  carefully  to 
read  and  ponder  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence by  which,  on  July  4,  1776,  our  American 
colonists  formally  notified  to  the  whole  world 
their  final  severance  from  Great  Britain  and 
their  determination  henceforth  to  work  out 
their  own  destinies  as  sovereign  states. 

I  wonder  how  many  of  my  British  readers  have 
ever  perused  this  famous  document.  Its  repro- 
duction here  will  probably  cause  the  seizure  of 
this  book  by  the  military  censors  at  Cape 
Town.  But,  notwithstanding  their  objection, 
the  Declaration,  with  its  carefully  specified 
statement  of  the  wrongs  inflicted  upon  the 
Americans  by  the  British  Government,  may  be 
very  profitably  read  and  meditated  upon  to-day. 
For  here  within  the  four  corners  of  a  well-worn 
placard  are  set  forth  in  plain  terms  the  reasons 
why  we  lost  America,  and,  reading  between  the 
lines,  we  may  discover  without  much  difliiculty 
the  reasons  why  we  shall  lose  South  Africa  and 
Ireland  also  if  so  be  that  we  do  not  mend  our 
ways.  It  is  doubtful  whether  one  Englishman 
in  a  thousand  has  ever  read  the  Declaration 
through  from  end  to  end.  Yet  a  more  fateful 
document   it   would   be   hard    to   find   in    the 


22 


TJu  Americanisation  of  tlie  World. 


whole  of  our  records.  It  is  the  epitaph  of  our 
Empire : — 

In  Congress,  July  4,  1776. 

A  DECLARATION 

By  the  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  of  America, 

In  General  Congress  assembled. 

When  in  the  Course  of  human  Events,  it 
becomes  necessary  for  one  People  to  dissolve 
the  Political  Bands  which  have  connected  them 
with  another,  and  to  assume  among  the  Powers 
of  the  Earth,  the  separate  and  equal  Station  to 
which  the  Laws  of  Nature  and  of  Nature's  God 
entitle  them,  a  decent  Respect  to  the  Opinions 
of  Mankind  requires  that  they  should  declare 
the  Causes  which  impel  them  to  the  separation. 

We  hold  these  Truths  to  be  self-evident,  that 
all  Men  are  created  equal,  that  they  are  endowed 
by  their  Creator  with  certain  unalienable  Rights, 
that  among  these  are  Life,  Liberty  and  the 
Pursuit  of  Happiness.  That  to  secure  these 
Rights,  Governments  are  instituted  among  Men, 
deriving  their  just  Powers  from  the  Consent  of 
the  Governed,  that  whenever  any  Form  of 
Government  becomes  destructive  of  these  Ends, 
it  is  the  Right  of  the  People  to  alter  or  abolish 
it,  and  to  institute  new  Government,  laying  its 
foimdation  on  such  Principles,  and  organising 
its  Powers  in  such  Form,  as  to  them  shall  seem 
most  likely  to  effect  their  Safety  and  Happiness. 
Prudence,  indeed,  will  dictate  that  Governments 
long  established  should  not  be  changed  for 
light  and  transient  Causes ;  and  accordingly  all 
Experience  has  shewn,  that  Mankind  are  more 
disposed  to  suflfer,  while  Evils  are  sufferable, 
than  to  right  themselves  by  abolishing  the 
Forms  to  which  they  are  accustomed.  But 
when  a  long  Train  of  Abuses  and  Usurpations, 
pursuing  invariably  the  same  Object,  evinces  a 
design  to  reduce  them  imder  absolute  Despotism, 
it  is  their  Right,  it  is  their  Duty,  to  throw  off 
such  Government,  and  to  provide  new  Guards 
for  their  future  Security.  Such  has  been  the 
patient  sufferance  of  these  Colonies ;  and  such 
is  now  the  Necessity  which  constrains  to  alter 
their  former  Systems  of  Government.  The 
History  of  the  present  King  of  Great  Britain  is 
a  History  of  repeated  Injuries  and  Usurpations, 
all  having  in  direct  Object  the  Establishment  of 
an  absolute  Tyranny  over  these  States.  To 
prove  this,  let  Facts  be  submitted  to  a  candid 
Worid. 

He  has  refused  his  Assent  to  Laws,  the  most 
wholesome  and  necessary  for  the  public  Good. 

He  has  forbidden  his  Governors  to  pass  Laws 
of  immediate  and  pressing  Importance,  unless 


suspended  in  their  Operation  till  his  Assent 
should  be  obtained ;  and  when  so  suspended,  he 
has  utterly  neglected  to  attend  to  them,    -^mffif* 

He  has  refused  to  pass  other  Laws  for  the 
Accommodation  of  large  Districts  of  People, 
unless  those  People  would  relinquish  the  Right 
of  Representation  in  the  Legislature,  a  Right 
inestimable  to  them,  and  formidable  to  Tyrants- 
only. 

He  has  called  together  Legislative  Bodies  at 
Places  unusual,  uncomfortable,  and  distant  from 
the  Depository  of  their  public  Records,  for  the 
sole  Purpose  of  fatiguing  them  into  Compliance 
with  his  Measures. 

He  has  dissolved  Representative  Houses 
repeatedly,  for  opposing  with  manly  Firmness 
his  Invasions  on  the  Rights  of  the  People. 

He  has  refused  for  a  long  Time  after  such 
Dissolutions,  to  cause  others  to  be  elected; 
whereby  the  Legislative  Powers,  incapable  of 
Annihilation,  have  returned  to  the  people  at 
large  for  their  exercise ;  the  State  remaining  in 
the  meantime  exposed  to  all  the  Dangers  of 
Invasion  from  without,  and  Convulsions  within. 

He  has  endeavoured  to  prevent  the  popula- 
tion of  these  States ;  for  that  Purpose  obstruct- 
ing the  Laws  for  Naturalisation  of  Foreigners  \ 
refusing  to  pass  others  to  encourage  their 
^Migrations  hither,  and  raising  the  Conditions 
of  new  Appropriations  of  Lands. 

He  has  obstructed  the  Administration  of 
Justice,  by  refusing  his  Assent  to  Laws  for 
establishing  Judiciary  Powers. 

He  has  made  Judges  dependent  on  his  Will 
alone,  for  the  Tenure  of  their  Offices,  and  the 
Amount  and  Payment  of  their  Salaries. 

He  has  erected  a  multitude  of  new  Offices, 
and  sent  hither  Swarms  of  Officers  to  harass 
our  People,  and  eat  out  their  Substance. 

He  has  kept  among  us,  in  Times  of  Peace,. 
Standing  Armies,  without  the  Consent  of  our 
Legislatures. 

He  has  affected  to  render  the  Military  inde- 
pendent of  and  superior  to  the  civil  Power. 

He  has  combined  with  others  to  subject  us 
to  a  Jurisdiction  foreign  to  our  Constitution, 
and  unacknowledged  by  our  Laws;  given  his 
Assent  to  their  Acts  of  pretended  Legislation  : 

For  quartering  large  Bodies  of  armed  Troops 
among  us : 

For  protecting  them,  by  a  mock  Trial,  from 
punishment  for  any  Murders  which  they  should 
commit  on  the  Inhabitants  of  these  States  : 

For  cutting  off  our  Trade  with  all  Parts  of 
the  Worid : 


The  Amencanisation  of  Ireland. 


For  imposing  Taxes  on  us  without  our 
Consent : 

For  depriving  us,  in  many  cases,  of  the 
Benefits  of  Trial  by  Jury  : 

For  transporting  us  beyond  Seas  to  be  tried 
for  pretended  Offences : 

For  aboHshing  the  free  system  of  EngHsh 
Laws  in  a  neighbouring  Province,  estabhshing 
therein  an  arbitrary  Government,  and  enlarging 
its  boundaries,  so  as  to  render  it  at  once  an 
Example  and  fit  Instrument  for  introducing  the 
same  Absolute  Rule  into  these  Colonies  : 

For  taking  away  our  Charters,  abolishing  our 
most  valuable  Laws,  and  altering  fundamentally 
the  forms  of  our  Governments  : 

For  suspending  our  own  Legislatures,  and 
declaring  themselves  invested  with  Power  to 
legislate  for  us  in  all  Cases  whatsoever. 

He  has  abdicated  Government  here,  by 
declaring  us  out  of  his  Protection,  and  waging 
War  against  us. 

He  has  plundered  our  Seas,  ravaged  our 
Coasts,  burnt  our  Towns,  and  destroyed  the 
Lives  of  our  People. 

He  is  at  this  Time,  transporting  large  Armies 
of  foreign  Mercenaries  to  compleat  the  Works 
of  Death,  Desolation,  and  Tyranny,  already 
begun  with  Circumstances  of  Cruelty  and  Per- 
fidy scarcely  parallelled  in  the  most  barbarous 
Ages,  and  totally  unworthy  the  Head  of  a 
civilized  Nation. 

He  has  constrained  our  fellow  Citizens  taken 
Captive  on  the  high  Seas  to  bear  Arms  against 
their  Country,  to  become  the  Executioners  of 
their  Friends  and  Brethren,  or  to  fall  themselves 
by  their  Hands. 

He  has  excited  Domestic  Insurrections  amongst 
us,  and  has  endeavoured  to  bring  on  the  Inhabi- 
tants of  our  Frontiers,  the  merciless  Indian 
Savages,  whose  known  Rule  of  Warfare  is  an 
undistinguished  Destruction,  of  all  Ages,  Sexes, 
and  Conditions. 

In  every  Stage  of  these  Oppressions  we  have 
petitioned  for  Redress,  in  the  most  humble 
Terms :  Our  repeated  Petitions  have  been 
answered  only  by  repeated  Injury.  A  Prince, 
whose  Character  is  thus  marked  by  every  Act 
which  may  define  a  Tyrant,  is  unfit  to  be  the 
Ruler  of  a  free  People. 

Nor  have  we  been  wanting  in  Attention  to 
our  British  Brethren.  We  have  warned  them 
from  Time  to  Time  of  Attempts  to  extend  an 
unwarrantable  Jurisdiction  over  us.  We  have 
reminded  them  of  the  Circumstances  of  our 
Emigration  and  Settlement  here.  We  have 
appealed  to  their  native  Justice   and   Magna- 


nimity, and  we  ha\e  conjured  them  by  the 
Ties  of  our  common  Kindred  to  tlisavow  these 
Usurpations,  which  would  inevitably  interrupt 
our  Connections  and  Correspondence.  They 
too  have  been  deaf  to  the  Voice  of  Justice  and 
of  Consanguinity.  \\'e  must,  therefore,  accjuiesce 
in  the  Necessity  which  denounces  our  Separa- 
tion, and  hold  them,  as  we  hold  the  rest  of 
Mankind,  Enemies  in  War  ;  in  Peace,  Friends. 

We,  therefore,  the  Representatives  of  the 
UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA,  in 
GENERAL  CONGRESS  assembled,  appealing 
to  the  Supreme  Judge  of  the  World  for  the 
Rectitude  of  our  Intentions,  do  in  the  Name 
and  by  the  Authority  of  the  good  People  of 
these  Colonies,  solemnly  Publish  and  Declare, 
That  these  United  Colonies  are,  and  of  Right 
ought  to  be,  FREE  AND  INDEPENDEN  T 
STATES ;  that  they  are  absolved  from  all 
Allegiance  to  the  British  Crown,  and  that  all 
political  connection  between  them  and  the  State 
of  Great  Britain,  is,  and  ought  to  be,  totally 
dissolved;  and  that  as  FREE  AND  INDE- 
PENDENT STATES,  they  have  full  Power  to 
levy  War,  conclude  Peace,  contract  Alliances, 
establish  Commerce,  and  to  do  all  other  Acts 
and  Things  which  INDEPENDENT  STATES 
may  of  Right  do.  x\nd  for  the  Support  of  .this 
Declaration,  with  a  firm  Reliance  on  the  Pro- 
tection of  Divine  Providence,  we  mutually 
pledge  to  each  other  our  Lives,  our  Fortunes, 
and  our  sacred  Honor. 

Signed  by  ORDER  and  on  BEHALF  of 
the  CONGRESS, 

John  Hancock,  President. 
Attest, 

Charles  Thompson,  Secretary. 

The  greater  part  of  the  oftences  laid  at  the 
door  of  George  III.  in  his  dealing  with  his 
American  colonists,  now  lie  at  our  doors  in  our 
dealing  with  the  colonists  of  South  Africa. 
Nor  need  we  be  surprised  if  similar  causes 
bring  about  similar  results.  Human  nature  is 
the  same  in  South  Africa  as  it  was  in  Boston 
and  Philadelphia.  The  Dutch  are  as  stubborn 
a  breed  as  the  descendants  of  the  men  of  the 
Mayflower.  If  the  centrifugal  force  is  certain 
to  make  itself  felt  upon  the  British  Empire,  its 
influence  will  be  earliest  perceptible  upon  those 
portions  of  our  Empire  which  adhere  most  loosely 
to  the  parent  body.  The  disruption  of  the 
Empire  or  its  gradual  disintegration  under  the 
superior  attraction  of  the  United  States  will  begin 
in  those  territories  where  there  is  nothing  to 
counteract  the  drawing  power  of  gravitation  in 
the  shape  of  national  sentiment  or  patriotic 
loyalty.  In  other  words,  the  United  States  will 
have  most  pull  over  Ireland  and  South  Africa, 
for   in    both    of    these    lands    the    centrifugal 


Mk.    JOHN    RKDMOND,    M.P. 
{I'ltotngraph  by  La/nyctte.) 


Mr.    JOHN    DILLON,    M.P. 


rintograpk  by  Frith  &=  Cc] 


COLLEGE  GREEN,  DUBLIN 


Mr.     HORACE    FLLNKETT. 
(Photograph  by  Chancellor.) 


Mr.    MICHAEL  DAVITT. 

(Photograph  ly  Lafayette.') 


The  Americaitisaiion  of  Iceland. 


25 


forces  of  domestic  discontent  will  reinforce  the 
centripetal  forces  outside. 

The  majority  of  the  Irish  in  Ireland  have  never 
regarded  the  British  Empire  with  other  senti- 
ments than  those  of  hostility.  Under  English 
rule,  they  have  seen  their  religion  proscribed, 
their  lands  confiscated,  their  sons  driven  into 
exile.  They  have  been  denied  the  right  to 
make  their  own  laws  and  mocked  with  a 
gracious  permission  to  be  in  a  perpetual  minority 
in  an  alien  Parliament.  Again  and  again  they 
have  risen  in  revolt  only  to  learn  on  the  scaftbld 
and  in  the  felon's  cell  the  rewards  which 
patriotism  has  in  store  for  the  national  heroes 
of  Ireland.  During  last  century  they  have  seen 
their  numbers  dwindling  in  the  land  of  their 
birth,  not  by  the  thousand,  but  by  the  million. 
At  the  same  time  a  tardy  confession  has  been 
wrung  from  the  predominant  partner  that  for 
the  last  fifty  years  Ireland  has  been  overtaxed 
in  comparison  with  England  by  more  than  two' 
millions  per  annum.  The  inevitable  result 
has  followed.  The  majority  of  the  Irish  in 
Ireland  regard  the  British  Government  not  as 
their  friend,  but  as  the  ally  of  their  worst 
enemies,  the  vampire  which  preys  upon  their 
hearts'  blood.  To  the  masses  of  the  South  and 
West,  and  to  a  large  extent  of  the  North,  the 
United  States  is  more  of  a  fatherland  than 
Great  Britain.  They  are  much  more  interested 
in  what  goes  on  in  New  York  than  in  London, 
in  Chicago  than  in  Westminster.  It  is  to 
England  that  their  money  goes  in  rent  and  in 
taxes.  It  is  from  the  United  States  that  their 
money  comes  in  a  pactolean  flood  of  remittances 
through  the  post.  In  the  United  States  there 
were  at  the  census  of  1890  1,870,000  persons 
of  Irish  birth.  Of  those  born  of  Irish  parents 
on  American  soil  who  can  say  how  many  there 
are?  More,  it  is  safe  to  say,  than  are  to  be 
found  in  all  Ireland  to-day. 

If  the  majority  of  the  Irish  race  find  them- 
selves to-day  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  and 
if  the  majority  of  the  Irish  in  Ireland  build  all 
their  hopes  of  success  upon  the  support  which 
they  can  draw  from  their  kin  beyond  the  sea, 
it  is  not  surprising  if  Ireland  should  aftbrd  a 
promising  field  for  the  disintegrating  influence 
of  American  gravitation.  It  was  from  the  Irish 
in  America  that  Mr.  Parnell  drew  the  resources 
which  made  the  Land  League  so  powerful.  It 
is  to  the  Irish  in  America  that  Mr.  Redmond 
has  gone  to  solicit  support  for  the  United  Irish 
League.  It  was  from  the  American  Irish  that 
Patrick  Ford  collected  the  fund  for  "  Spreading 
the  Light."  It  is  in  the  United  States  that  the 
Clan  na  Gael  has  its  headquarters ;  and  it  was 
from  Chicago  that  the  dynamitards  set  out  when 
they  undertook  their  campaign  of  terrorism 
which  landed  most  of  them  in  convict  prisons. 


For  the  revolutionary  party  in  Ireland  America 
is  their  base,  their  banker,  their  recruiting 
ground,  and  their  safe  retreat.  Every  year 
Ireland  becomes  more  and  more  Americanised, 
more  and  more  assimilated  to  the  ideas  of  the 
democracy  of  the  West. 

What  America  has  given  to  the  Irish  is  some- 
thing much  more  valuable  than  dollars.  It 
is  only  in  the  cities  of  the  American  Union 
that  the  Irish  have  had  an  opportunity  of  dis- 
playing those  political  gifts,  the  exercise  of 
which  they  were  denied  in  their  own  land.  It 
is  the  fashion  to  sneer  at  the  way  in  which  the 
Irish  rule  New  York,  Chicago,  and  half  the 
great  cities  of  the  Union.  The  details  of  their 
administration  may  leave  much  to  be  desired, 
but  the  extraordinary  fashion  in  which  they 
have  succeeded  in  establishing  their  authority 
over  the  richest,  the  most  energetic,  and  the 
most  independent  communities  in  the  world,  is 
one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  miraculous  achieve- 
ments in  modem  politics.  Everywhere  in  a 
minority,  they  are  everywhere  in  the  ascendant. 
Denied  the  elementary  right  of  self-govern- 
ment in  their  own  country  on  the  score  of 
political  incapacity,  they  have  in  the  New  World 
afforded  mankind  one  of  the  most  signal 
illustrations  of  the  art  and  craft  political  that 
the  modem  world  has  ever  seen.  All  that  may 
be  said  in  criticism  of  the  way  in  which  they 
gained  or  used  their  power  only  enhances  the 
wonder  of  it.  Landing  at  Castle  Garden, 
penniless,  ignorant,  and  despised,  they  have 
made  themselves  in  less  than  half  a  century 
the  overlords  of  the  greatest  cities  in  the  New 
World.  The  Anglo-Indian,  with  all  the  Empire 
at  his  back,  has  not  a  firmer  grip  upon  the  ad- 
ministration of  Calcutta  than  plain  Richard 
Croker  enjoyed  for  half  a  lifetime  over  the 
commercial  capital  of  America.  Men  who  have 
done  so  much  with  so  little,  men  who  have 
created  satrapies  out  of  nothing  and  constrained 
the  States  that  expelled  the  British  to  submit  to 
their  yoke,  may  be  criminals,  but  they  have  in 
them  the  genius  of  statesmanship. 

This  is  the  more  remarkable  when  we  con- 
trast it  with  the  utter  failure  of  the  British 
immigrant  to  leave  any  perceptible  trace  on  the 
political  development  or  the  civic  administra- 
tion of  the  United  States.  In  1890  there  were 
in  the  United  States  of  Irish  birth  1,870,000, 
but  those  of  British  birth  were  even  more 
numerous.     The  figures  are  as  follows  : — 


I\ngland     . 
Wales 
Scotland     . 

Canada  and  Newfoundland 


909,092 
100,079 
242,231 

1,251, 402 

980,938 

2,232,340 


26 


The  Americanisation  of  tJie   World. 


From  the  British  Isles,  that  vagina  gentium^ 
came  three  million  persons  who  in  1890  were 
resident  in  the  United  States.  Almost  another 
million  came  from  the  British  American  colonies. 
Four  million  persons  bom  under  the  Union  Jack 
were  in  1890  living  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 
What  influence  had  this  enormous  British  element 
upon  the  politics  or  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  or  of  any  one  of  them  ?  The  only 
perceptible  influence  was  that  of  the  Irish 
minority,  and  that  influence  has  been  from  the 
first  and  still  is  steadily  exerted  against  the 
Empire  within  whose  frontiers  they  were  bom. 
Every  American  politician  recognises  the  Irish 
vote  as  a  powerful  factor  in  every  election. 
AVho  has  ever  been  heard  to  speak  of  tihe  English 
vote,  the  Welsh  vote,  the  Scotch  vote  ?  There 
are  no  such  votes.  The  English,  the  Welsh,  and 
the  Scotch  are  completely  Americanised  and  lost 
among  the  mass  of  American  born.  The  Irish 
alone  remain  distinct.  The  one  race  immune 
to  complete  Americanisation  is,  nevertheless,  the 
most  potent  enemy  of  Great  Britain.  They 
only  remain  unassimilated  in  order  that  they 
may  be  strong  enough  to  assist  their  brethren 
at  home  in  throwing  off"  the  English  yoke. 

At  present  the  prospects  of  the  Irish  cause 
are  brighter  than  they  have  been  since  the  death 
of  Mr.  Pamell.  .  Mr.  Redmond  has  carried  to 
his  fellow-countrymen  in  the  United  States 
messages  of  high  hope  of  coming  victory. 
We  trust  that  the  Irish  may  not  experience 
once  more  that  disappointment  which  has  so 
often  dogged  their  path.  But  what  has  been 
may  be,  and  the  confidence  excited  by  the  re- 
establishment  of  discipline  in  the  Nationalist 
ranks,  may  once  more  be  replaced  by  the  gloom 
and  chill  of  despair.     \\Tiat  then  ? 

Is  it  entirely  out  of  the  pale  of  possible 
politics  that  a  time  may  come,  if  no  closer  ties 
of  a  federal  nature  are  established  between  the 
Empire  and  the  Republic,  when  Ireland  may 
gravitate  from  the  United  Kingdom  to  the 
United  States?  The  only  security  against  the 
occurrence  of  such  an  event  has  disappeared. 
The  United  States,  aspiring  to  be  one  of  the  first 
of  naval  powers,  has  begun  to  realise  that  it  is 
the  sea  which  unites,  the  land  which  divides. 
It  was  easier  for  the  Oregon  to  steam  round 
Cape  Horn  than  to  pierce  the  narrow  isthmus 
which  unites  the  Americas.  Their  hold  on  the 
Philippines  has  familiarised  the  Americans  with 
the  possibility  of  dominion  over  sea.  Dublin  is 
not  half  as  far  from  New  York  as  Manila  is 
from  San  Francisco.  The  Americans  no  longer 
rigidly  confine  themselves  within  the  ring  fence 
of  the  coast  line  of  the  oceans.  They  are 
spreading  themselves  abroad.  Expansion  is  in 
the  air. 

Several  times  in  the  last  half  century  relations 


between  the  Empire  and  the  Republic  have 
been  somewhat  painfully  strained.  Now  that 
the  United  States  is  conscious  of  its  superior 
strength  and  is  venturing  more  to  move  out  into 
the  open,  occasions  for  friction  are  certain  to 
be  more  numerous.  If  ever — which  Heaven 
forbid — these  points  of  friction  should  develop 
actual  collision  between  the  two  nations,  Ireland, 
would  at  once  become  an  object  of  supreme 
interest  to  the  Americans,  as  formerly  it  was 
to  the  French.  As  for  the  Irish,  their 
maxim,  "  England's  extremity  is  Ireland's  op- 
portunity," has  been  too  deeply  engraved  into 
their  consciousness  for  them  not  to  realise  the 
importance  of  utilising  such  an  occasion  to 
the  uttermost.  Quite  apart  from  all  other  possi- 
bilities, the  never  to  be  overlooked  chance  that 
some  day  Britain  may  be  at  war,  makes  it  the 
imperative  duty  of  every  American  statesman 
not  to  let  slip  any  opportunity  that  might 
Tender  more  certain  and  more  valuable  the 
support  of  Ireland  in  such  a  quarrel. 

This  is  assuming  that  the  cause  of  dispute 
may  be  one  altogether  extraneous  to  Ireland. 
But  we  cannot  overlook  the  possibility  that 
Ireland  itself  might  form  the  casus  belli. 

The  only  foreign  war  which  Americans  of  this 
generation  have  waged  was  fought  for  the  libera- 
tion of  Cuba.  Cuba  was  the  Spaniard's  Ireland. 
The  Pearl  of  the  Antilles,  like  the  Emerald  Isle, 
had  suffered  for  centuries  from  the  unsympathetic 
rule  of  alien  conquerors.  The  Cubans,  like  the 
Irish,  were  savagely  discontented.  Like  the 
Irish,  although  not  nearly  to  the  same  extent, 
they  had  friends  and  sympathisers  in  all 
the  great  American  cities.  Cuba,  like  Ireland, 
was  bled  to  death  by  the  rapacity  of  the  foreigner. 
At  last,  after  long  hesitation,  the  full  cup  of 
Spain's  iniquities  overflowed,  the  Americans  rose 
and  smote  down  with  one  smashing  blow  the  rule 
of  the  Dons  in  the  West  Indies.  The  war  was 
brief,  brilliant,  and  decisive.  As  the  result  the 
islands  which  Weyler  had  wasted  with  sword 
and  flame  are  enjoying  a  prosperity  before 
unheard  of.  And  the  American  people  as  a 
whole  are  exceedingly  well  pleased  at  the  result 
of  their  first  essay  as  a  liberating  Power. 

All  these  things  render  it  by  no  means  im- 
probable that  a  piteous  appeal  from  the  Irish 
after  the  next  famine  or,  more  likely  still,  after 
the  next  abortive  insurrection,  will  find  the 
American  ear  quick  to  hear  the  cry  from  weep- 
ing Erin,  "  Come  over  and  help  us."  Probably 
most  of  my  readers  will  shrug  their  shoulders  at 
this  speculation,  and  dismiss  it  as  fantastic 
nonsense.  To  all  such  I  will  put  but  one 
question.  Do  they  imagine  for  one  moment 
that  if  British  generals  were  to  put  in  force 
against  Irish  insurgents  of  the  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury all   the   pitch-cap  devilries  of  1798,   any 


The  Americanisahon  of  Ireland. 


27 


power  on  earth  would  be  able  to  keep  the 
American  people  from  interposing  between 
our  soldiery  and  their  victims?  There  is  not 
an  American  city  which  has  not  among  its 
most  influential  men  some  one  who  was  bom 
in  the  country  which  was  desolated  •  by  our 
dragoons.  The  cry  of  anguish  that  would  rise 
from  the  fire-blasted  country,  in  Connaught  and 
in  Munster,  would  reverberate  through  every 
American  city.  The  memories  of  the  old  blood 
feud  would  revive.  The  shade  of  Washington 
would  be  invoked  against  the  descendants  of 
the  men  whom  he  drove  from  the  United  States, 
and  the  sword  of  Columbia  would  not  be  re- 
turned to  its  scabbard  before  Ireland  had  been 
placed  beside  Cuba  among  the  proud  trophies 
of  the  humanitarian  and  liberating  zeal  of  the 
American  people. 

This  speculation  may  seem  fantastic  to  those 
who  have  never  reflected  upon  the  extraordinary 
rapidity  with  which  nations  discover  that  they 
have  a  providential  mission  to  assist  the  oppressed 
when  their  interests  or  their  passions  lead  them 
to  desire  a  pretext  for  interference.  But  it  is 
as  well  to  remember  that,  as  far  back  as  i8g6, 
Mr.  William  O'Brien  declared  in  the  pages  of 
the  Nineteenth  Century  the  possibility  of  Ameri- 
can intervention  on  behalf  of  Ireland.  He  even 
suggested  that  after  the  next  General  Election 
all  the  Nationalist  members  returned  for  Irish 
constituencies  should  refuse  to  come  to  West- 
minster, but  should  proceed  to  Washington  to 
formally  lay  their  appeal  before  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States.  The  article  was  entitled, 
*'  If  Ireland  sent  her  M.P.'s  to  Washington."  It 
opened  with  the  suggestion  that  the  first  business 
that  an  Anglo-American  Court  of  Arbitration 
would  have  to  deal  with  would  be  the  relations 
between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  The  most 
notable  passage  in  the  article  runs  as  follows : 
"Supposing  that  the  Irish  electors  should  say, 
'  Enough  of  idle  babble  in  the  English  Parlia- 
ment. We  will  elect  representatives  pledged 
not  to  go  to  Westminster,  but  to  Washington  to 
lay  the  case  of  Ireland  before  the  President  and 
Congress  of  the  United  States  with  all  the 
solemnity  of  a  nation's  appeal,  and  to  invoke 
the  intervention  which  was  so  successful  in  the 
case  of  Venezuela.'  Eighty-two  Irish  members, 
five-sixths  of  the  Irish  representation,  transferred 
from  the  Parliament  of  England  to  the  Congress 
of -the  United  States  by  deliberate  national 
decree;,  would  represent  an  international  event 
of  whose  importance  the  most  supercilious  Jingo 
would  not  affect  to  make  light."  Mr.  O'Brien 
thought  that  if  such  a  pilgrimage  took  place,  the- 
Irish  representatives  would  be  received  with 
open  arms.  He  said  "the  public  opinion  of 
the  United  States  could  not  resist  such  an  appeal 
from  Ireland.     I  think  few  will   doubt- it  who 


know  the  depth  of  American  sympathy  with 
Ireland,  and  the  interest  that  all  Americans,  and 
not  the  least,  Irish  Americans,  have  in  elimina- 
ting the  Irish  question  from  their  own  internal 
politics.  Enlightened  Englishmen  who  desire 
at  one  and  the  same  time  to  conciliate  Ireland^ 
and  to  deliver  the  United  States  and  England 
from  periodical  fits  of  war  fever,  ought  to  be  the 
first  to  welcome  the  intervention  of  the  new 
Court  of  Arbitration  in  Irish  affairs.  It  would 
turn  a  controversy  which  may  easily  enough  be 
the  beginning  of  a  new  and  implacable  quarrel 
between  the  two  great  English-speaking  Powers 
into  a  pledge  of  genuine  amity  between  them. 
What  seems  to  me  reasonably  certain,"  said 
Mr.  O'Brien  five  years  ago,  "  is  that  the  centre 
of  gravity  of  the  Irish  difficulty  some  time  to 
come  is  about  to  shift  from  Westminster  to 
Washington." 

Mr.  McHugh,  who,  fresh  from  a  British 
dungeon,  accompanied  Mr.  Redmond  this  year  in 
his  pilgrimage  to  the  United  States,  boldly  pro- 
claimed his  belief  that  Ireland  would  soon  take 
a  greater  step  forward  and  would  demand  ad- 
mittance into  the  Union  as  one  of  the  United 
States.  Too  much  importance  need  not  be 
attached  to  such  suggestions,  which  are  often 
thrown  out  like  sparks  to  dazzle  and  to  expire. 
But  in  view  of  the  widespread  recognition  on 
the  part  of  many  English-speaking  men  on  this 
side  of  the  Atlantic,  of  the  imminent  desira- 
bility, not  to  say  necessity,  of  creating  a  great 
English-speaking  political  international  trust, 
these  suggestions  are  not  without  their  signifi- 
cance. 

Certain  persons,  who  form  their  estimate  of 
American  public  opinion  solely  from  the  utter- 
ances of  the  wealthy  classes  in  New  York,  may 
scout  the  idea  that  any  sane  or  statesmanlike 
American  would  ever  entertain  the  suggestion 
put  forward  by  Mr.  William  O'Brien,  If  they 
look  a  little  below  the  surface,  or  if  they  extend 
their  investigations  into  American  public  opinion 
a  little  further  they  would  modify  their  conclu- 
sion. Nine  years  ago  this  very  subject  was  dis- 
cussed by  one  of  the  sanest  and  most  sagacious 
of  American  writers  in  an  article  published  in 
the  Contemporary  Review  of  September  1892. 
In  this  paper  Dr.  Shaw,  who  had  been  asked 
by  the  editor  to  set  forth  in  plain  terms  what 
was  the  American  view  of  Home  Rule  and 
Federation,  referred  to  the  possible  consequences 
that  might  result  from  the  refusal  of  the  pre- 
dominant partner  to  ^concede  Home  Rule  to 
Ireland.  If  England  persisted  in  this  course, 
said  Dr.  Shaw,  "Ireland  itself  might  falter  in 
its  loyalty  at  some  time  of  crisis.  We  do  not 
want  Ireland,  yet  obviously  we  could  make  her 
very  comfortable  and  happy  as  a  State  in  our 
Union.     And  in  the  nature  of  things  it  is  not 


28 


The  A })icrica7iisation  of  the   World. 


easy  to  see  why  the  American  flag  might  not 
float  over  the  Emerald  Isle  with  as  much  pro- 
priety as  the  British  flag  in  territories  contiguous 
to  our  border.  Moreover  there  might  be  much 
moral  justification  for  our  reception  of  Ireland 
in  the  fact  that  we  should  at  once  give  that 
community  a  place  in  a  rational  system  of  politi- 
cal organisation,  and  promote  its  general  welfare 
and  progress,  whereas  without  Home  Rule  it 
must  remain  in  a  distraught  condition.  Our 
mission  in  Ireland  would  be  the  same  as  England 
professes  in  Egypt — to  pacify,  restore,  and  bless. 
But  we  could  have  no  object  in  undertaking  this 
expensive  annexation  of  Ireland  except  the 
welfare  of  humanity  and  the  progress  of  the 
English-speaking  communities  of  the  world." 


Chapter  IV. — Of  South  Africa. 

No  phrase   has  been  more  frequently  used  in 
the   discussion   of  the   South  African  question 
than  that   the   policy   of  Mr.    Chamberlain   is 
creating   for    us   "another    Ireland    in    South 
Africa."     Without   striking    into   the  forbidden 
path  of  political  controversy  it  suflSces  to  point 
out  that  Mr.  Chamberlain  himself  has  warned 
us  that  when  his  war  has  been  brought  to  a 
close   we   shall    require    to    maintain    for    an 
indefinite  time  a  standing  army  of  50,000  men 
in  South  Africa  in  order  to  enforce  the  obedience 
of  the   300,000   unwilling   subjects   whom   we 
have  determined  to  compel  to   remain  within 
the  borders  of  the  Empire.     Since  that  calcula- 
tion has  been  made  the  British  garrison  in  South 
Africa  has  been  steadily  maintained  at  a  figure 
considerably   above    200,000.     Even   now   the 
military  expert  of  The  T'nms  calculates  that  in 
the  first  six  months  after  all  fighting  has  ceased 
it  will  be  only  possible  to  recall  30,000  men, 
and  that  we  must  contemplate  the  necessity  of 
maintaining  for  a  time,  to  which  no  limit  can  be 
placed,  an  armed  force  of  170,000  men.     But 
the  number  of  bayonets  upon  which  we  shall 
find  it  necessary  to  sit  in  our   South   African 
dominions  is  a  detail.     Whether  they  are  50,000 
or  170,000  or  200,000,  the  seat  will  be  equally 
uncomfortable,  the  only  difference  being  one  of 
expenditure.     The    fundamental   point    to    be 
kept  in  view  is  that  in  South  Africa  it  may  be 
for  years  or  it  may  be  for  generations,  we  have 
deliberately  elected  to  establish  our  dominion 
by   reliance   upon   militar}'   force.     Before   the 
war  our  Empire  in   South  Africa  was   one   of 
consent.     After  the  war  it  will  be  one  of  con- 
quest maintained  by  an  armed  garrison.     The 
Dutch   of  Cape  Colony,   who   were    so   loyal 
immediately  before  the  war  as  to  take  the  lead 
of  every  Colony  in  the  Empire   in  voting  an 


annual  subsidy  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
British  fleet,  are  being  converted  into  implacable 
enemies  of  our  rule.  But  it  is  probable  that 
the  force  which  wall  dislodge  the  Afrikander 
Commonwealth  from  the  position  to  which  we 
have  destined  it  in  the '  orbit  of  the  British 
Empire,  and  which  will  convert  it  into  one  of 
the  stars  in  the  constellation  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  will  not  in  the  first  instance 
at  least  be  Dutch.  We  shall  lose  South  Africa, 
not  by  the  armed  revolt  of  our  alienated  sub- 
jects, but  because  we  can  no  longer  depend 
upon  the  support  and  co-operation  in  maintain- 
ing our  authority  over  the  much  more  immedi- 
ately dangerous  and  uncontrollable  element 
which  we  are  doing  our  best  to  bring  into 
existence  in  Johannesburg. 

In  order  to  understand  the  true  inwardness 
of  this  observation  it  is  necessary  to  go  back  to 
the  fatal  moment  in  South  African  histor)'  when 
Mr.  Rhodes  decided  to  enter  upon  that  which 
is  known  in  bistorj*  as  the  Jameson  Conspiracy. 

So  little  is  kno\\-n  of  the  inner  springs  of 
political  action,  that  it  is  possible  most  of  my 
American  readers  will  hear  for  the  first  time  in 
these  pages  that  the  present  disastrous  war  in 
South  Atrica  is  the  direct  result  of  a  jealousy  of 
American  influence.  It  is  common  ground  that 
this  war  dates  from  the  Jameson  Raid.  The 
Raid  begat  the  armaments,  the  armaments  begat 
Lord  Milner  s  intervention,  and  that  intervention 
brought  on  the  war.  But  what  begat  the  Raid  ? 
Upon  this  point  I  can  speak  with  authority,  as  I 
have  frequently  heard  the  whole  story  of  that 
most  disastrous  blunder  from  the  lips  of  the' 
man  who  conceived  the  conspiracy,  and  risked 
everything  in  order  to  carr>'  it  out.  No  mistake 
can  be  greater  than  the  vulgar  error  of  imagining 
that  Mr.  Rhodes  hatched  the  Jameson  con- 
spiracy out  of  any  animosity  or  fear  of  the 
Boers.  Mr.  Rhodes  has  always  been  very 
partial  to  the  Dutch.  Man  for  man,  he  knows 
that  the  Boer  is  a  better  physical,  virile  creature 
than  the  city-bred  people  of  Great  Britain. 
Politically,  he  had  always  worked  with  them. 
He  never  would  have  been  Premier  except  by 
their  aid,  and  no  man  ever  formulated  more 
emphatically  the  axiom  that  without  the  support 
of  the  Dutch  you  cannot  govern  South  Africa. 

Why,  then,  did  he  enter  into  a  conspiracy  to 
overthrow  President  Kruger?  Mr.  Rhodes'  own 
answer  to  this,  which  I  have  heard  many  times 
from  his  own  lips,  is  that  his  object  was  not 
primarily  but  only  incidentally  to  overthrow 
Kruger.  His  one  supreme  aim  was  to  capture 
the  Uitlanders,  to  secure  their  allegiance  to  the 
British  Empire,  and  to  avert  the  one  thing  he 
dreaded  most  of  all,  the  establishment  of  what 
he  called  an  American  Republic  in  the  Trans- 
vaal, which,  in  his  own  vigorous  phrase,  would 


THEIRT.  HON.  CECIL  JOHN  RHODES. 
{From  aphotograjih  .'p. daily  taktn/or  tht  "Review  of  Reviews,"  by  E.  H.  Mills,  ig,  Str.nley  Gardens,  If^.) 


The  Americanisation  of  the   World. 


have  been  ten  times  more  a  child  of  the  devil  for 
us  to  deal  with  than  Paul  Kruger  had  ever  been. 

Mr.  Rhodes  was  a  little  too  previous  in  his 
calculations — a  fault  on  virtue's  side,  especially 
in  these  days,  when  our  Ministers  seem  con- 
genitally  incapable  of  an  intelligent  anticipation 
of  events  to  come.  But  to  understand  a  mis- 
calculation after  the  event  is  easy.  It  is  more 
difficult  to  foresee.  What  Mr.  Rhodes  thought 
he  saw  was  the  Rand  filling  up  with  a 
heterogeneous  conglomerate  of  adventurous, 
unscrupulous,  unattached  mortals,  all  intent 
primarily  upon  making  their  fortune.  These 
men  outnumbered  the  adult  burghers  of  the 
Transvaal  by  four  to  one.  The  Boers  were 
practically  unarmed,  without  even  adequate 
supply  of  cartridges  for  their  rifles,  except  for 
protection  against  the  natives.  Their  artillery 
was  worthless.  Although  some  attempt  had 
been  made  to  construct  a  fort  to  overawe 
Johannesburg,  *  they  were  utterly  unprepared 
for  a  coup  de  main.  The  previous  election  for 
President  had  shown  the  existence  of  a  very 
strong  minority  hostile  to  Paul  Kruger.  Mr. 
Rhodes  was  led  to  believe  by  his  confidential 
informants  that  the  Uitlanders  were  not  in  the 
mood  to  tolerate  any  longer  the  authority  of  the 
Boers.  Their  leaders  were  represented  as  being 
only  one  degree  less  hostile  to  the  British 
Government  than  they  were  to  President  Kruger, 
the  cause  of  their  complaint  being  the  fact  that 
Mr.  Rhodes  and  the  High  Commissioner  had 
never  given  them  any  effective  assistance  in  their 
campaign  against  Krugerism. 

The  Uitlanders  were  men  who  had  at  their 
disposition  the  enormous  wealth  of  the  Rand, 
that  treasure  of  the  Nibelungs  which  has 
drenched  the  veldt  with  human  blood — they 
were  men  of  all  nationalities  and  of  none — and 
even  those  who  came  from  Great  Britain  and 
the  Colonies  held  very  loosely  to  the  Empire. 
Conspicuous  among  those  were  the  Irish  and 
the  miners,  whom  Mr.  Rhodes  described  as  the 
*'  Sydney  Bulletin  Australians."  The  Sydney 
Bulletin,  it  may  here  be  explained,  is  an 
extremely  able  weekly  illustrated  paper,  pub- 
lished in  Sydney,  which  neither  fears  God  nor 
reverences  the  King,  and  which  makes  British 
Imperialism  the  favourite  butt  of  its  attacks. 
German  Jews,  Frenchmen,  Russians,  Poles 
Hollanders,  and  Americans — it  was  a  motley 
crowd  that  the  great  golden  magnet  had  at- 
tracted to  Johannesburg — of  which  one  thing 
at  least  could  be  stated  without  hesitation,  viz., 
that  it  had  as  little  enthusiasm  for  the  Union 
Jack  or  for  anything  more  ideal  than  dollars  and 
cents  as  any  assemblage  of  human  beings  that 
could  be  collected  on  the  planet.  It  was  a 
godless  crew,  of  whom  one  shrewd  observer 
remarked,  that  it  was  too  much  addicted  to 


gambling,  women,  and  whisky  to  have  the 
proper  revolutionary  fibre.  But  gross  mammon 
worshipper  though  it  might  be,  Mr.  Rhodes 
believed  it  was  the  brain  as  well  as  the 
pocket  of  Africa.  He  knew  it  was  fretfully 
impatient  of  the  irksome  restrictions  enforced 
by  President  Kruger.  He  underestimated  the 
resisting  force  of  the  Boers,  and  believed  that 
at  any  moment  the  news  might  come  that  a 
bloodless  revolution  had  taken  place  in  the 
Transvaal,  that  Paul  Kruger  had  disappeared, 
and  that  in  his  place  he  would  have  to  deal 
with  a  President  of  a  new  Republic,  flushed 
with  victory,  angry  at  being  refused  all  help, 
and  very  much  inclined  to  pay  off"  old  scores  by 
being  much  more  anti-British  than  the  Boers 
had  been.  "  In  fact,"  said  Mr.  Rhodes  to  me 
when  he  was  explaining  how  it  was  he  came  to 
make  the  one  fatal  blunder  of  his  career, — "  it 
seemed  to  me  quite  certain  that  if  I  did  not 
take  a  hand  in  the  game,  the  forces  on  the  spot 
would  soon  make  short  work  of  President 
Kruger.  Then  I  should  be  face  to  face  with 
an  American  Republic — American  in  the  sense 
of  being  intensely  hostile  to  and  jealous  of 
Britain — an  American  Republic  largely  manned 
by  Amejricans  and  Sydney  Btilletiji  Australians 
who  cared  nothing  for  the  old  flag.  They 
would  have  all  the  wealth  of  the  Rand  at  their 
disposal.  The  drawing  power  of  the  Uitlander 
Republic  would  have  collected  round  it  all  the 
other  Colonies.  They  would  have  federated 
with  it  as  a  centre,  and  we  should  have  lost 
South  Africa.  To  avert  this  catastrophe,  to 
rope  in  the  Uitlanders  before  it  was  too  late, 
I  did  what  I  did." 

Repeated  conversations  with  Mr.  Rhodes, 
even  so  recently  as  last  autumn,  found  him 
unchanged  in  the  conviction  that  the  danger  of 
that  American  Republic  in  the  heart  of  South 
Africa  justified  his  conspiracy.  Kruger  was 
doomed  anyhow.  It  was  for  England  to  stand 
in  with  the  Rising  Sun. 

Not  only  will  Americans  be  interested  in 
knowing  the  true  story  of  the  genesis  of  the 
Jameson  conspiracy,  they  will  be  not  less 
surprised  to  know  that  its  failure  was  largely 
due  to  President  Cleveland's  message  on  the 
Venezuelan  Question.  The  Jameson  Conspi- 
racy, as  originally  planned,  based  its  hope  of 
success  upon  a  revolutionary  movement  in 
Johannesburg,  in  which  all  nationalities  were  to 
take  part.  Conspicuous  among  the  conspirators 
were  the  Americans,  Mr.  Hayes-Hammond  and 
Captain  Mein,  and  round  them  were  several  other 
Americans  whose  sympathies  were  enlisted  by 
the  idea  that  they  were  in  some  way  emulating 
the  exploits  of  the  fathers  of  the  Revolution  in 
overthrowing  a  new  George  III.  in  the  person 
of  President  Kruger. 


Of  South  Africa. 


When  Mr.  Chamberlain  made  it  the  con- 
dition of  his  connivance  in  the  conspiracy  that 
Dr.  Jameson  should  go  in  under  the  British  flag, 
and  that  the  next  Governor  of  the  Transvaal 
should  be  appointed  by  the  Colonial  Office,  he 
hamstrung  the  one  chance  of  success  which  the 
conspiracy  had  possessed.  His  condition  about 
the  flag  was  suppressed  for  a  while,  but  the  news 
leaked  out  just  about  the  time  when  the  anti- 
British  sentiment  among  Americans  everywhere 
was  excited  to  fever  heat  by  President  Cleve- 
land's message  about  Venezuela.  The  immedi- 
ate result  was  that  the  American  members  of 
the  Johannesburg  Conspiracy  flatly  refused  to 
go  on  with  the  revolution.  They  said  they 
were  willing  to  stake  their  lives  for  a  bona  fide 
revolution,  to  make  a  clean  sweep  of  the 
Krugerites  and  put  up  a  better  Government  in 
its  stead,  but  they  point  blank  and  in  set  terms 
refused  to  go  another  step  in  what  they 
described  as  a  job  to  "  gobble  up  "  the  Transvaal 
for  England. 

Explanations  and  disclosures  were  forth- 
coming, but  the  mischief  was  done.  The  whole 
.  revolutionary  movement  had  received  its  death- 
blow when  the  Americans  discovered  Mr. 
Chamberlain's  design.  The  subsequent  effort 
of  Dr.  Jameson  to  galvanise  the  revolu- 
tion into  life  need  not  be  referred  to  here, 
excepting  to  say  that  the  responsibility  for  this 
fiasco  lies  primarily  at  the  door  of  the  Colonial 
Minister,  whose  "Hurry  up"  messages  were 
admittedly  inspired  by  a  desire  to  get  the  re- 
volution over  before  the  Venezuelan-American 
trouble  became  acute. 

The  story  how  that  conspiracy  miscarried  is 
ancient  history.  Dr.  Jameson  and  his  men, 
Mr.  Rhodes  and  all  their  backers,  fared  as  men 
usually  do  who  sell  the  lion's  skin  before  the 
lion  is  dead.  But  the  important  point  is  that 
standpoint  of  Mr.  Rhodes,  and  the  fact  that  in 
his  opinion  the  danger  point  to  the  Empire  in 
South  Africa  five  years  ago  was  not  to  be  sought 
among  the  Dutch  but  among  the  Outlanders, 
and  what  Mr.  Rhodes  saw  then  is  doubly  true 
to-day.  The  real  danger  that  threatens  the 
Empire  in  South  Africa  is  not  to  be  found  so 
much  in  the  sleepless  hostility  of  the  Dutch, 
whose  homes  have  been  burned  and  whose 
children  have  been  done  to  death,  as  one  of  the 
humane  corollaries  of  the  policy  of  devastation 
and  farm  burning.  It  is  to  be  found  in  the 
cosmopolitan  population  whom  we  are  summon- 
ing back  to  the  Rand.  It  is  a  common  error 
to  maintain  that  the  Outlanders  love  us,  and 
that  even  if  they  did  not  love  us  before  the  war 
we  have  purchased  their  affection,  admiration, 
and  loyalty  by  the  immensity  of  the  sacrifice  in 
the  last  two  years.  That,  however,  is  not  the 
way  in  which  the  Outlander  looks  at  it  at  all. 


He  considers  that  British  incompetence,  British 
short-sightedness,  and  the  insufferable  arrogance 
and  ignorance  of  our  military  officers,  have  sub- 
jected him  for  two  years  to  privations  which  he 
would  never  have  suffered  if  we  had  shown 
ordinary  capacity  in  the  conduct  of  the  war. 
Between  the  mining  community  and  the  military 
satraps  who  act  upon  their  own  prejudice  and 
caprice,  and  are  responsil)le  for  martial  law 
throughout  the  whole  of  South  Africa,  there  is  a 
bitter  feud.  No  Dutchman  speaks  with  such 
contempt  of  the  British  military  authorities  as 
do  the  men  on  whose  behalf  the  whole  of  our 
sacrifices  have  been  incurred.  Two  years  ex- 
perience in  refugee  camps  in  Cape  Town  and 
Natal  have  not  sweetened  the  temper  of  these 
quondam  political  helots  who  aroused  the  gushing 
sympathy  of  Lord  Milner.  They  will  return, 
and  with  them  will  return  a  horde  of  political 
adventurers  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  In  the 
next  twenty  years  ;j^3oo,ooo,ooo  sterling  will  be 
extracted  from  the  mines  of  the  Rand,  and  where 
the  carcase  is  there  will  the  vultures  be  gathered 
together.  It  is  confidently  calculated  that  the 
white  mining  population  that  will  throng  to  the 
Rand  will  number  a  minimum  of  a  quarter  of  a 
million,  and  possibly  there  may  be  as  many  as 
350,000,  The  population  will  be  preponderantly 
male,  but  it  will  not  be  anything  like  preponder- 
antly British.  There  will  be  any  number  of 
Americans,  the  Sydney  Bulldin  Australians  will 
come  once  more  to  the  front,  there  will  be 
swarms  of  Polish  Jews,  and  any  number  of 
adventurous  Frenchmen,  Germans,  Russians, 
and  Dutch.  These  men  will  go  there  with  one 
object,  and  that  is  to  enrich  themselves  as 
rapidly  as  possible,  and  no  community  in  the 
world  will  be  more  impatient  of  any  restriction 
upon  their  liberty  or  of  the  imposition  of  any 
burdens  which  in  their  opinions  ought  not  to 
be  imposed  upon  them  without  their  consent. 
Imagine  this  cosmopolitan  community  of  gold 
seekers  compelled  to  submit  to  the  arbitrary 
restrictions  of  military  rule,  taxed  without  their 
consent,  and  saddled  with  a  large  share  of  what 
they  regard  as  the  altogether  unnecessary  expen- 
diture which  was  caused  by  the  blundering 
incompetence  of  the  British  Government  and 
British  military  authorities.  It  is  not  pretended 
that  for  years  to  come  there  will  be  anything  in 
the  shape  of  free  Parliamentary  government 
established  in  any  part  of  South  Africa.  On  the 
contrary,  we  are  told  every  day  that  it  may  be 
years  or  it  may  be  generations  before  the  rule 
of  the  sword  is  replaced. 

We  are  further  told  by  those  excellent 
ministers  of  the  Gospel  under  whose  benediction 
the  war  has  been  waged,  that  as  the  result  of 
our  sacrifices  Downing  Street  is  going  to  settle 
the  native  question  in  South  Africa  upon  the 


The  Americanisaiion  of  the  World. 


principles  of  Exeter  Hall.  What  will  be  the 
result  ?  Two  years  will  not  pass  before  we  have 
Johannesburg  in  a  seething  mass  of  discontent, 
a  charged  mine  to  which  a  match  may  at  any 
moment  be  accidentally  applied.  You  only 
need  to  move  among  the  leading  members  of 
the  mining  community  either  in  London  or  in 
Africa  to  understand  what  the  future  has  in 
store  for  us.  ''  How  long  do  you  Outlanders  " 
— I  asked  an  eminent  reformer  who  had  done 
time  in  gaol  for  his  share  in  the  Jameson  con- 
spiracy— "how  long  do  you  think  you  can 
tolerate  Crown  Colony  government  in  Johannes- 
burg ?  ■' — "  Some  people,"  he  said,  "  say  eighteen 
months.  So  far  as  my  people  are  concerned 
I  should  think  that  about  two  days  is  as 
much  as  they  could  stand."  From  him,  as 
from  another  still  more  eminent  authority, 
I  heard  the  bitterest  complaints  concerning  the 
ignorance  and  arrogance  of  the  Colonial  Secre- 
tary. "  President  Kruger  at  his  worst,"  said 
one  whose  stake  in  the  Rand  is  second  to  none 
— "'  President  Kruger  at  his  worst  was  an  angel 
of  light  compared  with  Mr.  Chamberlain.  The 
man  is  as  pig-headed  as  he  is  ignorant,  and  as 
unapproachable  as  the  Mikado  in  old  times. 
Does  he  think  that  we  are  Hottentots,  that  we 
can  be  governed  in  this  fashion  ?  We  are  not 
Hottentots,  and  that  he  will  soon  find  out."  Evi- 
dence multiplies  on  every  hand  to  show  that 
when  the  mines  get  to  work  again,  the  Outlanders 
will  sigh  for  the  flesh  pots  of  Egypt  and  the  old 
days  of  Paul  Kruger.  I  have  already  referred 
to  the  native  question  as  that  in  which  the 
interests  of  the  mine  owmer  and  the  philan- 
thropic interests  of  the  British  public  are  likely 
to  come  into  sharp  collision. 

There  are  many  other  questions.  Take,  for 
instance,  the  question  of  federation.  It  is 
always  said  that  we  are  going  to  create  a  new 
federated  Empire  in  South  Africa.  "  If  you  want 
federation,"  said  one  of  the  rich  men  of  the 
Rand  to  me  quite  recently,  "you  had  better 
federate  before  we  get  back.  You  certainly 
will  never  federate  after  we  once  have  felt  our 
strength.  Why  should  we  federate?  What 
does  federation  mean  to  us.  It  means  first  and 
foremost  that  you  intend  to  tie  round  our  neck 
as  a  millstone  the  railway  debt  of  Natal  and 
Cape  Colony.  It  means  that  you  are  going 
to  saddle  us  with  a  responsibility  for  paying 
interest  on  ;j^45,ooo,ooo  invested  in  railways 
which  would  never  earn  more  than  i  per  cent,  if 
it  were  not  for  us.  What  have  we  to  do  with  the 
Cape  lines  ?  Delagoa  Bay  is  our  port.  Leave 
us  to  ourselves  and  we  shall  double  the  line  to 
Delagoa  Bay,  and  that  will  supply  all  that  we 
want  much  more  cheaply  and  rapidly  than 
we  could  bring  anything  from  Durban  or  the 
Cape." 


If  any  one  wants  to  understand  exactly  the 
relation  that  will  exist  between  the  returned 
Uitlanders  when  the  railways  get  into  operation 
again  and  the  military  authorities  who  must  of 
necessity  for  a  long  time  be  charged  with  the 
control  of  the  country,  he  can  see  it  as  in  a  magic 
mirror  if  he  will  take  the  trouble  to  recall  the 
relations  which  existed  between  Col.  Kekewich 
and  Mr.  Rhodes  during  the  siege  of  Kimberley. 
The  soldier  despises  the  mineowner,  and  the 
latter  repays  his  contempt  with  interest.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  war  has  created  a  genuine  feeling 
of  respect  between  the  fighting  Colonist  and  the 
fighting  Boer.  Upon  that  basis  of  mutual  respect 
mutual  co-operation  could  very  rapidly  be 
arranged  if  once  a  question  arose  in  which  they 
had  a  common  enemy.  That  common  enemy  will 
not  be  far  to  seek.  In  any  collision  that  may 
arise  between  Downing  Street  and  Johannes- 
burg, Downing  Street  will  be  helpless,  because 
Johannesburg  can  always  strike  up  a  fighting 
alliance  with  the  Dutch,  whereas  Downing 
Street  can  never  rely  upon  Dutch  support,  at 
least  during  the  lifetime  of  this  generation. 
What  seems  probable,  therefore,  is  that  if  the 
war  should  ever  come  to  an  end,  and  a  cosmo- 
politan population  of  gold  diggers  should  place 
250,000  men  on  the  Rand,  the  community  will 
insist  upon  governing  itself  in  its  own  way. 
They  will  form  precisely  that  "  American 
Republic,"  although  probably  not  under  the 
name  of  a  republic,  which  Mr.  Rhodes  saw  afar 
off  and  endeavoured  to  avert.  Any  attempt  on 
our  part  to  compel  them  to  pay  taxes  to  which 
they  have  not  consented  would  be  followed  by 
an  African  imitation  of  the  Tea  Party  in  Boston 
harbour.  And  any  attempt  to  punish  such 
defiance  of  our  authority  would  immediately 
precipitate  an  alliance  with  the  Afrikanders 
which  would  leave  us  powerless,  no  matter  how 
strong  our  garrison,  and  so  the  British  Empire 
would  perish  in  South  Africa,  smitten  down  by 
the  very  Outlanders  on  whose  behalf  we  are 
supposed  to  have  waged  this  war. 
.  This  speculation  may  seem  to  many  far- 
fetched, but  the  premisses  upon  which  the 
calculations  are  based  are  indisputable.  We  are 
going  to  try  the  experiment  of  governing  an 
adventurous  community,  accustomed  to  liberty, 
by  what — however  disguised — is  in  reality  a 
military  despotism.  We  intend  to  impose  taxes 
upon  this  community  without  their  consent ;  we 
are  pledged  to  secure  rights  and  privileges  for 
the  natives,  any  attempt  to  fulfil  which  would 
afibrd  a  common  platform  for  Boer  and  Out- 
lander.  These  are  the  difficulties  which  Mr. 
Rhodes  foresaw  in  1895,  but  at  that  time 
England  at  the  worst  could  always  rely  upon  the 
support  of  the  Dutch  in  South  Africa  in  main- 
taining her  authority.     There  was  no  danger  of 


Of  South  Africa. 


a  revolt  on  the  Rand  against  the  paramountcy 
of  Britain  when  all  the  farmers  in  South  Africa 
could  be  relied  upon  to  support  the  Empire 
against  the  Rand.  But  to-day  we  have  destroyed 
the  only  force  upon  which  we  could  rely 
in  South  Africa,  and  we  shall  be  reduced  to  the 
humiliating  alternative  of  allowing  Johannesburg 
to  govern  South  Africa  according  to  its  own 
sweet  will  and  pleasure,  or  of  precipitating  a 
struggle  which  could  only  have  the  same  result. 
If  at  the  end  of  it  all  we  are  permitted  to  retain 
Simon's  Bay  as  a  coaling-station  for  our  Navy, 
we  may  consider  ourselves  lucky. 

The  Afrikander  Commonwealth  may  split  off 
from  the  British  Empire.  It  does  not  exactly 
follow  that  it  will  array  itself  under  the  Stars 
and  Stripes.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  are 
several  influences  which  may  tend  in  that 
direction. 

In  the  first  place  very  many  of  the  most  ener- 
getic citizens  in  Johannesburg  will  be  American 
citizens.  In  the  second  place  they  will,  for 
some  time  at  least,  be  in  very  strained  relations 
with  Great  Britain.  What  would  be  more 
natural  than  for  them  to  seek  support  in  the 
sister  republic  across  the  seas  ? 

Great  Britain  would  not  be  Jhe  only  Power 
against  which  the  Afrikander  Commonwealth 
might  find  that  it  needed  the  friendly  protection , 
of  a  first-class  fleet.  German  territory  marches 
with  that  which  is  now  British  South  Africa, 
both  on  the  east  and  west,  and  German  ambi- 
tion has  often  marked  Dutch  South  Africa  as  her 
natural  inheritance.  Nor  is  fear  the  only 
motive  which  might  drive  the  Afrikanders  under 
the  sheltering  wing  of  the  American  Eagle. 
Delagoa  Bay,  from  the  point  of  view  of  inter- 
national law,  thanks  to  the  unfortunate  award 
of  Marshal  MacMahon,  belongs  by  sovereign 
right  to  Portugal ;  but  the  ground  around 
Delagoa  Bay  is  held  as  real  estate  by  the 
millionaires  of  the  Rand.  They  will  attempt 
in  the  first  case  to  deal  with  Portugal,  but 
if  they  fail,  it  is  by  no  means  improbable 
that  if  they  were  assured  of  the  support  of  a 
strong  navy,  they  would  attempt  to  secure  the 
right  of  ownership  to  what  is,  after  all,  the  front 
door  of  their  own  house.  Add  to  this  the  fact 
that  the  pKJSsibility  of  a  native  rising  can  never 
be  absent  from  the  minds  of  the  white  minority 
in  South  Africa.  Australians  may  do  as  they 
please,  their  natives  are  too  few  and  too  weak  to 
menace  their  peace.  In  Africa  it  is  different. 
The  menacing  figure  of  the  Kaffir  is  never 
absent  from  the  South  African  landscape.  The 
Afrikanders  would  feel  much  more  comfortable 
if  they  knew  that,  should  the  worst  come  to  the 
worst,  they  could  always  count  upon  reinforce- 
ments from  beyond  the  sea  in  case  of  a  native 
rising,  and  where  else  could  they  hope  to  secure 


that  after  the  breach  with  England  excepting 
from  the  United  States? 

But  it  will  be  said  that  the  sister  republic 
will  have  nothing  to  do  with  them,  and  as  proof 
of  this  we  shall  be  referred  to  the  cold-blooded 
fashion  in  which  President  McKinley  left  the 
South  African  Republics  to  their  fate.  But 
many  circumstances  combined  to  render  it  diffi- 
cult for  President  McKinley  to  take  any  other 
course.  The  United  States  had  just  emerged 
from  a  war  in  which  they  believed,  rightly  or 
wrongly,  that  they  had  been  saved  from  a 
hostile  European  combination  by  the  benevo- 
lent neutrality  and  veiled  alliance  of  Great 
Britain.  They  were  also  waging  a  war  of  their 
own  in  the  Philippines  which  rendered  it  prac- 
tically impossible  for  them  to  pose  as  the 
champions  of  a  nation  rightly  struggling  to  be 
free.  And,  in  the  third  place,  there  will  be  a  very 
great  difference  between  an  English-speaking 
republic,  largely  officered  by  Americans,  ap- 
pealing to  Washington  against  an  attempt  on 
the  part  of  the  British  Empire  to  enforce  the 
principle  of  taxation  without  representation, 
and  a  similar  appeal  which  came  to  the 
same  republic  from  Dutch  -  speaking  States 
popularly  believed  to  be  little  better  than 
barbarians  offering  a  vain  resistance  to  the 
onward  march  of  civilisation.  Fiscal  considera- 
tions are  also  likely  to  pull  in  the  same  direc- 
tion. The  United  States  has  been  diligently 
preparing  to  invade  the  South  African  market 
as  soon  as  the  war  affords  them  an  opportunity. 
Mr.  Roosevelt,  in  carrying  out  the  policy  of 
President  McKinley,  and  using  the  tariff  as  a 
means  of  securing  reciprocal  concessions  in  the 
shape  of  reductions  of  tariff  on  American  goods, 
would  be  able  to  offer  very  tempting  terms  to 
the  Afrikander  Commonwealth. 

The  Kimberley  mines  export  every  year 
nearly  five  million  pounds  worth  of  diamonds 
to  all  parts  of  the  world.  Upon  these  dia- 
monds the  American  customs  duty  varies  from 
ten  to  twenty-five  per  cent.  Here  is  an  oppor- 
tunity of  making  a  reduction  in  return  for 
a  quid  pro  quo.  The  United  States  in  1900 
exported  to  South  Africa  goods  valued  at 
twenty  million  dollars,  not  including  imports 
for  military  use  or  American  goods  shipped  in 
England.  This  showed  an  increase  of  three 
and  a  half  million  dollars  over  the  preceding 
twelve  months,  notwithstanding  the  drop  that 
was  occasioned  by  the  war,  whicli  practically 
extinguished  the  demand  for  agricultural  machi- 
nery. Supposing  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  is  able  to 
do  a  deal  with  Mr.  Rhodes,  cutting  the  duty  on 
diamonds  by  fifty  per  cent,  in  return  for  a 
similar  cut  on  duties  charged  on  American 
imports  into  the  Cape,  who  could  complain  ? 

Between  July  ist,   1899,  and   January  31st, 

D 


The  Amcricanisation  of  the   World. 


1901,  the  Cape  Government  imported  twenty 
American  locomotives,  and  since  then  they 
have  been  buying  extensively  in  the  United 
States.  From  the  account  given  by  Mr.  C. 
Elliott,  ex-General  Manager  of  the  Cape  Rail- 
way Administration,  the  Americans  not  only 
supplied  the  engines  on  trust,  but  they  returned 
^450  on  six  locomotives,  stating  that  the  cost 
of  construction  had  not  been  so  great  as  was 
anticipated.  The  Americans  having  got  hold 
axe  not  to  be  shaken  off.  Mr.  Pingree's  visit 
to  the  seat  of  war  last  year,  in  the  joint  interest 
of  political  curiosity  and  the  promotion  of  the 
sale  of  American  boots,  was  but  one  among 
many  illustrations  of  the  care  and  thoroughness 
with  which  the  Americans  are  preparing  to 
seize  the  South  African  market.  They  leave  to 
us  the  cost,  the  risk,  the  sacrifices  of  the  war. 
They  reserve  to  themselves  the  profit  to  be 
made  by  exporting  American  goods  to  the 
customers  who  will  be  left  alive  at  the  close  of 
the  war. 

Few  things  seem  less  improbable  than  that 
the  Afrikander  Commonwealth,  under  the 
leadership  of  Johannesburg,  if  constituted  as 
an  independent  Republic,  might  very  soon  find 
itself  in  friendly  treaty  alliance  with  the  United 
States. 

The  experiment,  therefore,  of  attempting  to 
enforce  our  dominion  over  unwilling  subjects  in 
South  Africa  is  likely  to  terminate  disastrously 
for  the  Empire.  The  fact  that  what  would  be  a 
source  of  weakness  to  Great  Britain  would  be  a 
source  of  strength  to  the  United  States  is  due 
solely  to  the  difference  between  willing  and 
unwilling  subjects. 


Chapter  V. — Of  the  West  Indies  and 
Thereabouts. 

We  now  turn  from  what  may  be  regarded  as 
the  diseased  members  of  the  British  Empire, 
who  being  in  imwilling  and  enforced  subjection, 
can  be  counted  upon  to  lose  no  opportunity  of 
transferring  their  allegiance  from  the  King  to 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  to  those  parts 
of  the  British  Empire  which  are  most  likely  to 
succumb  to  the  operation  of  the  law  of  political 
gravitation.  In  the  case  of  the  United  States  the 
force  of  this  is  likely  to  be  felt  most  strongly 
in  the  case  of  the  West  Indian  islands. 

The  British  flag  at  the  present  moment  is  flying 
over  a  series  of  archipelagoes  of  small  islands 
lying  in  the  Caribbean  Sea  immediately  to  the 
south  of  Florida  and  at  the  doorstep  of  the 
United  States.  Of  these  islands  by  far  the  most 
important  is  Jamaica,  after  which  come  Trinidad 
and  Barbadoes.      The  others  are  islets  rather 


than  islands,  but  together  they  figure  conspicu- 
ously in  the  list  of  British  possessions  in  North 
America. 

Distinct  from  the  West  Indian  group,  lying 
farther  to  the  north-east  are  the  Bahamas,  and 
still  farther  away  lies  the  island  of  Bermuda. 
The  Bermudas  are  coming  more  and  more  to 
hold  the  relation  to  the  United  States  which 
the  Channel  Islands  hold  to  France.  Although 
lying  close  at  her  doors,  they  are  under  a  foreign 
flag,  and  they  attract  every  year  an  increasing 
number  of  visitors  from  the  mainland.  The  West 
India  islands,  these  "  summer  isles  of  Eden  set 
in  azure  seas,"  which  excited  the  enthusiasm  of 
Charles  Kingsley,  and  many  another  traveller 
before  and  since,  have  long  been  the  despair  of 
our  Colonial  Office.  Mr.  Chamberlain  has  been 
engaged,  ever  since  his  accession  to  office,  in  a 
desperate  endeavour  to  restore  some  semblance 
of  prosperity  to  our  unfortunate  possessions 
which  have  been  ruined  by  the  sugar  bounties. 
Jamaica  possesses  an  exceptional  interest,  for 
it  was  the  only  colony  founded  by  Oliver  Crom- 
well. Like  many  another  colony,  it  came  into 
existence  by  accident  rather  than  design.  The 
great  naval  expedition  which  he  lavmched  to 
attack  the  power  of  Spain  in  San  Domingo  mis- 
carried and  picked  up  Jamaica  as  a  kind  of 
consolation  prize.  For  nearly  200  years  after 
its  annexation  Jamaica  prospered.  It  survived 
the  emancipation  of  the  slaves.  But  it  received 
a  deadly  wound  when  the  imposition  of  the 
sugar  bounties  in  the  interests  of  beet  sugar 
ruined  the  cane  sugar  plantations  of  the  West 
Indies.  Mr.  Brooks  Adams,  in  a  remark- 
able and  very  sombre  paper  on  *'  England's 
Decadence  in  the  West  Indies,"  republished  by 
Macmillan  in  "America's  Economic  Supre- 
macy," attributes  the  destruction  of  the  West 
Indies  to  the  poUcy  of  Germany.  He  says  : 
'•  Taken  in  all  its  ramifications  this  destruction 
of  the  sugar  interest  may  probably  be  reckoned 
the  heaviest  financial  blow  that  a  competitor 
has  ever  dealt  Great  Britain."  Towards  1880 
the  British  West  Indies  made  a  profit  calcu- 
lated at  about  ;^6, 500,000  per  annum.  Ger- 
many ruined  the  West  Indies  by  adherence 
to  Napoleon's  policy  of  attack.  For  nearly 
three  generations  the  chief  Continental  nations 
with  hostile  intent,  paid  bounties  on  the 
export  of  sugar.  In  August,  1896,  Germany 
and  Austria  doubled  their  bounties,  and  the 
following  spring  France  advanced  hers.  The 
English  got  their  sugar  cheaper  at  the  cost  of 
the  taxpayers  of  the  Continent,  but  the  cane  sugar 
industry  was  practically  destroyed ;  the  islands 
of  Dominica  and  Santa  Lucia  have  become 
almost  wildernesses ;  the  whole  archipelago  has 
been  blighted.  Our  consumption  of  sugar  has 
enormously  increased.     In  1869  every  English- 


Of  the   West  Indies  and  Thereabouts. 


35 


man  consumed  42  lb.  of  sugar  as  against  35  lb. 
in  the  United  States.  The  other  countries 
varied  from  the  Italian  minimum  of  7  lb.  per 
head  to  a  maximum  of  28  lb.  in  France.  As 
the  result  of  artificial  cheapening  of  sugar  by 
means  of  subsidies  the  English  consumption  per 
head  rose  in  1897  to  841b.,  that  is  to  say,  while 
the  price  of  sugar  was  rechiced  by  one-half  the 
consumption  of  sugar  doubled.  Our  sugar  bill 
remained  the  same,  but  every  man,  woman,  and 
child  of  us  doubled  his  consumption.  Mr. 
Brooks  Adams  thinks  that  we  acted  unwisely 
in  accepting  the  bribe  offered  us  in  the  shape 
of  cheap  sugar.  In  his  opinion  we  should  have 
fought  the  bounties  by  countewailing  duties, 
and  so  have  warded  off  the  blow  that  was  levelled 
against  the  prosperity  of  our  own  colonies. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  there  is  no  doubt  as  to 
what  is  the  opinion  of  the  West  Indian  planters. 
They  maintain  that  the  bounty  system  was  not 
fair  competition,  and  that  they  have  been 
sacrificed  on  the  altar  of  a  doctrinaire  Free 
Trade.  The  subsequent  efforts  which  have 
been  made  by  Mr.  Chamberlain  to  restore  the 
prosperity  of  these  islands  have  not  been 
remarkably  successful. 

For  a  long  time  past  they  have  been  sink- 
ing from  bad  to  worse  until  in  the  last  decade 
of  the  Nineteenth  Century  it  became  evident 
that  something  must  be  done,  and  done  at 
once,  if  our  West  Indian  Colonies  were  not 
to  go  bankrupt.  Mr.  Chamberlain  appointed 
a  Commission,  of  which  Sir  Edward  Grey  was 
the  most  important  member.  It  issued  a 
report,  and  Mr.  Chamberlain  has  ever  since 
been  more  or  less  strenuously  endeavouring 
to  carry  out  its  recommendations.  So  far 
the  activity  of  the  Colonial  Secretary  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  fraught  with  much  benefit 
to  the  Colony.  The  impoverished  inhabitants 
are  much  more  painfully  conscious  of  the 
immediate  increase  in  taxation  which  the 
changes  have  involved  than  the  more  or  less 
remote  and  hypothetical  advantages  which  they 
are  promised  in  the  future.  A  subsidy  to  a  line 
of  cargo  steamers  has  not  been  suflficient  to 
bring  the  up-country  negro  into  immediate 
touch  with  Covent  Garden  market,  and  discon- 
tent seems  to  be  rife  in  the  island,  which  in 
some  districts  resembles  nothing  so  much  as  a 
huge  pauper  warren. 

There  are  some  Jamaicans,  indeed,  who 
complain  bitterly  that  Mr.  Chamberlain's 
method  of  promoting  the  prosj)erity  of  Jamaica 
bears  too  much  resemblance  to  the  time- 
honoured  expedient  of  feeding  a  dog  with  a 
piece  of  his  own  tail. 

It  will  be  admitted  even  by  the  greatest 
optimist  that  the  state  of  Jamaica  and  of  the 
other  West  Indian  Colonies  still  leaves  much  to 


be  desired,  and  it  is  equally  indisputable  that 
^Vest  Indians  themselves  attribute  their  disasters 
to  the  fiscal  policy  of  the  Empire  to  which  they 
belong.  Not  only  so,  but  the  fact  that  the 
inhabitants  did  not  suffer  even  worse  things 
they  attribute  to  the  enterprise  of  a  Boston  man 
who  established  a  flourishing  trade  in  bananas 
with  the  United  States.  A  writer  in  the  Daily 
Tfit'i^rap/i  of  Jamaica  says  :  "  Poor  impoverished 
Jamaica  should  never  be  ungrateful  to  America 
for  making  markets  for  our  sugars  and  bananas 
during  a  period  when  in  England  the  policy 
was,  '  Oh,  cut  the  painter,  and  let  the  colonies 
go!'" 

It  is  not  so  long  since  the  United  States 
admitted  West  Indian  sugar  free  of  duty,  and 
that  fact  is  not  forgotten  in  Jamaica.  Mr. 
Chamberlain  has  no  doubt  endeavoured  to 
develop  trade  between  Jamaica  and  the  Mother 
Country,  but  so  far  with  singularly  little  success. 
Lord  Pirbright,  writing  in  the  National  Rii'ie7^< 
for  December,  1896,  declared  that  Mr. 
Chamberlain's  policy  was  foredoomed  to  failure, 
and  that  the  refusal  to  adopt  a  policy  of 
retaliation  for  the  purpose  of  fighting  the  sugar 
bounties  would  inevitably  result  in  the  loss  of 
the  sugar  colonies.  He  wrote  :  "  We  cannot 
strengthen  the  bonds  of  loyalty  which  hold  the 
West  Indies  to  the  Mother  Country  by  the 
promise  of  eleemosynary  doles  which  are  to 
compensate  them  for  the  loss  of  their  flourishing 
industry,  and  keep  them  from  bankruptcy.  If 
they  were  to  accept  this  grant  in  aid,  which 
must  become  a  permanent  grant,  they  must 
inevitably  degenerate.  The  loss  of  indepen-. 
dence  would  certainly  beget  a  feeling  of  distrust 
in  the  Mother  Country  to  whose  inaction  they 
would  attribute  their  dependent  position. 
Geographically  much  nearer  to  America  than 
to  Great  Britain,  they  might  seek  and  would 
certainly  receive  from  the  United  States  not 
alone  the  commercial  facilities  which  we  deny 
them,  but  other  inducements  of  far  greater 
importance.  Trade  would  follow  the  flag. 
That  flag  would  no  longer  be  ours,  and  we 
might  have  to  deplore  not  only  the  ruin,  but 
also  the  loss  of  our  West  Indian  possessions." 

When  Mr.  Chamberlain  was  beginning  his 
experiments  in  the  act  of  resuscitating  a 
perishing  colony  by  the  time-honoured  method 
of  increasing  the  import  duties  on  British  goods, 
the  United  States,  abandoning  the  policy  of 
abstention  from  all  interference  in  the  aflairs 
of  other  nations,  suddenly  stepped  forth  armed 
from  head  to  heel  as  the  avenger  of  the  wrongs 
of  Cuba.  Spain  was  driven  from  the  Western 
Main,  Cuba  was  freed,  and  Porto  Rico  was 
annexed  by  the  conquering  Power.  The  advent 
of  the  United  States  as  a  colonising  power  in 
the  midst  of  the  West  Indian  Archipelago  could 


BRITAIN    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES    IN   THE    WEST    INDIES. 


youmaL'] 


[Minneapolis. 


CUBAN  ANNEXATION. 
CiBA. — "  It  seems  the  only  way  over  the  Tariff  Wall." 


yournal.']  [Minneapolis. 

LIKELY  TO  CATCH  THE  WHOLE  WEST  INDIAN  GROUP. 


Of  the   West  Indies  and  TJieveaboiits. 


not  but  thrill  with  excitement  e^)ien  the  lethargic 
imagination  of  the  Lotos  eaters  of  our  Colonies. 
For  the  United  States  is  more  than  a  political 
federation  of  forty-three  Sovereign  Republics, 
It  represents  76,000,000  human  beings,  each  of 
whom  has  probably  a  more  toothsome  appetite 
for  the  delicate  products  of  the  West  Indies 
than  the  men  of  any  other  race  now  living  on 
the  planet. 

The  immediate  result  of  the  annexation  of 
Porto  Rico  was  to  give  an  immense  stimulus 
to  the  production  of  sugar.  When  the  island 
was  wrenched  from  the  nerveless  hand  of  Spain, 
her  annual  export  of  sugar  was  only  40,000  tons. 
Last  year  she  exported  100,000  tons.  In  1901 
it  is  expected  that  her  export  will  reach  150,000 
tons.  The  production  of  coffee  is  also  going 
up  with  leaps  and  bounds.  It  is  obvious  that, 
if  this  is  not  a  mere  spurt,  if  annexation  by  the 
United  States  is  proved  to  be  like  the  touch 
of  an  enchanter's  wand  causing  a  flood 
of  wealth  to  spring  up  in  these  West  Indian 
Islands,  there  is  not  a  sugar  island  now 
under  the  L'nion  Jack  that  will  not  be  clamour- 
ing to  be  transferred  to  the  United  States. 
Whatever  we  may  try  to  do  the  fact  remains 
solid  as  granite,  and  unalterable  by  all  that  we 
can  do,  the  United  States,  with  its  enormous 
masses  of  would-be  purchasers  of  all  manner 
of  sweetstuffs  and  tropical  fruit,  is  and  always 
must  be  the  best  market  for  the  West  Indian 
producer.  After  the  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  on  the  27  th  of  May,  1901,  when  the 
legality  of  the  Foraker  Act  imposing  special 
duties  On  goods  imported  from  Porto  Rico 
was  afhrmed  by  five  voices  against  four, 
there  is  nothing  to  hinder  the  United  States 
taking  over  any  number  of  West  Indian  Islands.* 

*  As  this  case  is  of  great  historical  and  political 
importance,  I  quote  here  Mr,  \Vellman"s  lucid  summary 
of  its  purport : — 

"i.  The  Constitution  does  not  follow  the  flag  vx 
propria  vigore-  oi its  own  force. 

"  2.  The  Unitetl  States  may  enter  upon  a  colonial 
policy — has  already  entered  upon  it  without  violation 
of  the  Constitution. 

"3.  This  nation  has  all  the  powers  that  rightfully 
belong  to  a  sovereign  international  state  and  may  acquire 
territory  without  incorporating  such  territory  as  an 
integral  part  of  itself. 

"4.  Ihe  simple  act  of  acquisition  by  treaty  or  other- 
wise does  not  automatically  brint;  about  such  incorpora- 
tion ;  and  incorporation  is  effected  only  by  the  will  of 
the  States  acting  consciously  through  Congress. 

*'  5.  Porto  Rico  is  not  a  part  of  the  United  States,  but 
'a  territory  appurtenant  and  belonging  to  the  United 
States.'  Tarifts  established  by  Congress  u|)on  goods 
coming  from  or  going  to  Porto  Rico  arc  valid  and 
collectible.     The  Foraker  Act  is  constitutional. 

"  6.  Congress  has  full  power  over  the  territories,  may 
r^ulate  and  dispose  of  them,  may  at  its  discretion 
extend  the  Constitution  to  them,  may  admit  them  as 
states,  or  may  hold  them  indefinitely  as  territoiies, 
colonies,  or  dependencies. 

'•  7.  Porto  Rico  is  not  a  '  foreign  country,'  .mJ  there- 


It  is  as  yet  too  soon  to  pronounce  upon  the 
net  economic  result  of  the  annexation  of  Porto 
Rico.  But  should  the  first  promise  be  realised, 
the  economic  pull  towards  the  United  States 
will  be  irresistible. 

It  would  seem  from  the  most  recent  statistics 
that  Mr.  Chamberlain's  policy  has  failed  to 
check  the  progress  of  the  movement  which 
tends  to  place  Jamaica  more  and  more  under 
the  economic  ascendency  of  the  United  States. 
Geographical  position  counts  for  much.  Jamaica 
is  within  a  few  hours'  steam  of  Cuba,  which  is  in 
turn  only  a  few  hours'  steam  from  Florida,  and 
"  nearest  neighbours  best  customers  "  seerns  to 
hold  good  in  the  West  Indies  as  elsewhere.  In 
1896  50  per  cent,  of  Jamaican  exports  went 
to  the  United  States,  and  only  27  per  cent, 
to  Great  Britain.  After  four  years  of  Mr. 
Chamberlain's  policy  the  share  of  the  United 
States  had  risen  to  63  per  cent.,  and  that  of  the 
United  Kingdom  had  shrunk  to  19  per  cent. 
The  figures  are  not  quite  so  bad  as  far  as 
relates  to  the  purchases  made  by  Jamaica  in 
American  and  British  markets,  but  even  here 
there  has  been  no  improvement.  In  1896 
41  per  cent,  of  her  imports  came  from  the 
United  States,  and  48  per  cent,  from  the  United 
Kingdom.  In  1900  the  share  of  the  United 
States  had  risen  from  41  to  43  per  cent.,  and 
that  of  ithe  United  Kingdom  had  fallen  from 
48  per  cent,  to  47  per  cent.  The  attempt  to 
foster  a  trade  between  Jamaica  and  Canada 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  very  successful. 
Her  exports  to  the  Dominion  stood  at  i  •  6  per 
cent,  in  1896,  and  at  the  same  figure  exactly 
in  1900.  Her  imports  from  Canada,  which 
were  7*5  per  cent,  in  1896,  had  dropped  to 
7  "I  per  cent,  in  1900.  The  Boston  Journal, 
commenting  on  the  6th  of  last  September  on 
the  significance  of  these  figures,  remarks  : — 

''We  take  perhaps  nine-tenths  of  Jamaica's 
sugar,  nearly  all  her  fruit,  much  of  her  coffee 
and  cocoa,  a  great  share  of  her  logwood,  almost 
all  her  cocoanuts.  The  famous  Jamaica  rum 
is  the  only  one  of  the  island's  products  which  is 
consumed  chiefly  by  Great  Britain. 

''Jamaica  is  so  near  the  United  States  and 
stands  so  closely  related  to  our  continental 
system,  that  this  steady  drift  of  her  trade  away 
from  Great  Britain  and  toward  us  is  not  strange. 
It  is  wholly  natural  and  intelligible.  But  it  is 
obvious  that  it  makes  the  British  connection 
increasingly  difficult  and  expensive. 

"  With  Porto  Rico  enjoying  absolute  free  trade 


fore  the  Dingley  law,  which  levies  duties  upon  goods 
imported  'from  foreign  countries,'  does  not  apply  to 
Porto  Rico.  Nor  yet  is  '  I'orto  Rico  a  part  of  the 
United  States.'  It  is  a  domestic  territory,  over  which 
Congress  has  '  unrestricted  control.'  " 


l8 


The  Ai7iericanisation  of  the   World. 


with  the  United  States,  and  Cuba  almost  its 
equivalent  under  reciprocity,  the  British  West 
India  possessions  in  the  Antilles  will  have  either 
to  be  given  up  or  maintained  at  a  cost  out  of  all 
proportion  to  their  real  value  to  the  Imperial 
Government." 

The  question  whether  the  movement  towards 
annexation  to  the  United  States  will  acquire  an 
impetus  which  will  make  it  irresistible  depends 
upon  the  results  which  will  follow  the  American 
annexation  of  Porto  Rico  and  the  American 
protectorate  established  over  Cuba.  If  the 
value  of  real  estate  in  Porto  Rico  goes  up 
by  leaps  and  bounds,  and  if  the  Colony  becomes 
as  prosperous  as  Jamaica  is  the  reverse,  the 
sentiment  of  loyalty  to  the  Union  Jack  will  not 
long  stand  the  dissolvent  of  such  a  contrast. 
Cuba  is  not  annexed  to  the  United  States — at 
least,  not  yet — but  the  advantage  of  being 
within  the  Union  and  so  avoiding  the  tarift' 
wall  which  at  present  limits  the  access  of 
the  products  of  Cuba  to  the  American  market 
will  be  certain  to  operate  with  steady  pressure 
in  favour  of  annexation.  The  United  States 
will  not  annex  Cuba,  but  Cuba  will  annex  itself 
to  the  United  States.  That  is  to  say,  she  will 
do  so  if  the  Americans  convince  the  Cubans 
that  annexation  will  put  more  money  into  their 
pocket  and  will  deprive  them  of  no  essential 
liberty.  The  force  of  gravitation  is  continuous, 
and  the  example  of  voluntary  incorporation  is 
apt  to  prove  contagious.  When  General  Gomez, 
the  Cuban  patriot,  left  the  United  States  after  a 
tour  through  the  Union  last  summer,  he  ex- 
pressed his  conviction  that,  after  a  period  of 
absolute  independence,  Cuba  would  do  well  to 
throw  in  her  lot  with  the  United  States.  It  is 
usually  the  case  that  if  once  a  country  tastes  the 
delights  of  absolute  independence  she  will  never 
seek  to  merge  her  destiny  with  any  neighbour, 
no  matter  how  great  and  powerful  that  neigh- 
bour may  be.  But  the  Americans  may  reverse 
this.  The  spectacle  of  a  well-governed  and 
prosperous  Porto  Rico  may  prove  potent 
enough  to  overcome  the  desire  of  the  Cubans 
to  fly  their  own  flag  outside  the  Union.  General 
Gomez  declared  that  not  only  did  he  contem- 
plate the  merging  of  Cuba  in  the  Republic,  but 
that  many  other  West  Indians  believed  that  San 
Domingo  and  Hayti  would  be  glad  to  accept 
the  protectorate  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 

In  discussing  the  probable  economic  forces 
which  tend  to  add  these  outlying  EngUsh-speak- 
ing  Colonies  to  the  great  American  Republic,  it 
should  not  be  forgotten  that  the  Americans 
would  bring  to  such  new  possessions  much  more 
than  mere  prestige  and  capital.  There  is  a 
certain  letharg)-  in  these  lotus-eaters'  Paradises 
which  it  would  take  all  the  Americans'  energy 
to  overcome.     "  If  any  influence  and  energy," 


said  Dr.  Shaw,  very  truly,  some  years  ago,  "  can 
ever  be  effectively  applied  to  lift  the  West 
Indies  out  of  the  political,  social,  and  industrial 
quagmire  into  which  they  have  sunk,  such 
rescue  must  come  from  the  United  States."  It 
is  difficult  to  see  what  answer  there  is  to  this. 
Sir  Wemyss  Reid  has  just  told  us  that  an 
American  Cabinet  Minister  at  ^^'ashington 
spoke  to  him  as  if  the  absorption  of  our  West 
Indian  Colonies  by  the  United  States  was  a 
forgone  conclusion. 

All  the  arguments  which  apply  to  the  West 
Indian  Islands  apply  mutatis  mutandis  to  the 
only  two  tracts  of  territor)-  which  we  possess  in 
South  and  Central  America.  British  Guiana, 
the  delimitation  of  whose  frontiers  nearly  in- 
volved us  in  trouble  with  the  United  States  a 
few  years  ago,  is  forbidden  to  extend  its  frontiers 
by  \-irtue  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  The  English- 
speaking  men  who  live  under  the  Union  Jack 
in  the  British  Colony  of  Guiana  are  rigorously 
confined  within  the  existing  frontiers  of  the 
province.  If  they  were  to  transfer  their  allegi- 
ance to  the  United  Stales  that  interdict  would 
immediately  be  repealed.  They  could  then 
extend  the  outposts  of  their  territory  as  far 
inland  as  they  pleased.  At  present  they  are 
handicapped  by  the  Union  Jack.  They  are  as 
much  Americans  as  any  of  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States.  But  because  they  are  in  organic 
relation  with  the  Mother  Countr)'  they  are 
denied  all  rights  of  interior  expansion.  They 
have  no  hinterland,  and  they  are  made  to  feel 
at  every  turn  that,  so  far  as  the  development  of 
their  Colony  is  concerned,  it  would  be  better  to 
be  an  independent  republic  than  to  belong  to 
the  vast  system  of  the  British  Empire. 

However  much  we  may  regret  the  loss  of  our 
West  Indian  Colonies,  our  regret  will  be 
tempered  by  satisfaction  at  the  thought  that  we 
have  had  ample  opportunity  to  see  what  the 
monarchical  section  of  the  English-speaking  race 
can  do  in  making  these  communities  happy, 
prosjjerous,  and  contented.  If  we  fail  so  com- 
pletely that  they  are  anxious  to  \xs  whether 
better  results  would  not  follow  if  they  are  placed 
under  the  control  of  the  republican  half  of  the 
race  we  have  no  reason  to  complain,.  Nay,  if 
the  squalid  poverty  of  many  of  our  fellow-subjects 
could  be  }>ermanently  relieved  by  allowing  these 
islands  to  become  the  colonies  and  depend- 
dencies  of  the  United  States,  it  would  be  our 
duty,  not  to  retard,  but  to  expedite  the  transfer. 
If  Britain  wishes  for  no  unwilling  subjects, 
neither  does  she  wish  to  have  any  citizens  in 
the  Empire  who  are  reminded  at  ever}'  turn  that 
they  are  suffering  in  body  or  in  estate  from  their 
connection  with  the  Mother  Countr)'. 


Of  Newfoiindland  and  Canada. 


39 


Chapter  VI. — Of  Newfoundland  and  : 
Canada. 

It  is  always  hazardous  to  prophesy,  but  it  would 
not  be  surprising  if  England's  oldest  Colony 
were  to  be  the  first  to  desert  the  Empire  in 
order  to  throw  in  her  lot  with  the  Republic. 

The  justification  for  this  somewhat  audacious 
forecast  is  the  fact  that  Newfoundland  alone,  of 
all  our  Colonies,  finds  its  vital  interests  sacrificed 
to  the  interests  of  the  Empire.  None  of  our 
other  Colonies  have  such  a  grievance  as  that 
which  troubles  the  Newfoundlanders.  None  of 
our  other  Colonies  are  subjected  to  the  daily 
temptation  which  confronts  them  in  the  shape 
of  the  self-evident  proposition  that  their  material 
interests  would  be  benefited  by  a  transfer  of 
their  allegiance  from  the  Union  Jack  to  the 
Stars  and  Stripes. 

The  facts  of  the  case  lie  in  a  nutshell.  When 
Newfoundland  was  first  settled,  it  was  not 
regarded  as  a  Colony  in  the  proper  sense  of  the 
term.  It  was  only  looked  upon  as  a  kind  of 
pier  or  landing-stage  on  which  the  hardy  fishers 
sent  out  from  Bristol  could  land  and  dry  their 
nets.  Newfoundland,  in  other  words,  was  not 
regarded  as  having  any  existence  other  than 
that  of  a  mere  appendage  to  the  cod  fishery. 
For  the  first  two  centuries  after  its  discovery  no 
one  at  home  seems  to  have  dreamed  of  the 
possibility  of  making  it  the  seat  of  a  British 
Colony.  Colonisation,  indeed,  was,  if  not  actu- 
ally forbidden,  at  least  discountenanced  rather 
than  encouraged;  and  even  so  late  as  the 
beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  original 
idea  that  Newfoundland  was  little  more  than  a 
coast-line  which  was  convenient  for  the  watering 
and  refitting  of  the  fishing  fleet  continued  to 
dominate  the  minds  of  our  statesmen.  But  for 
this,  it  is  impossible  to  believe  that  the  men 
who  negotiated  the  Treaty  of  Ryswick  would 
ever  have  made  over  to  the  French  Government 
the  exclusive  use  of  the  French  shore.  This 
arrangement,  which  was  subsequently  confirmed 
at  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht  half  a  century'  later, 
was  based  upon  the  supposition  that  the  only 
thing  worth  considering  in  Newfoundland 
was  the  use  of  its  shores  as  convenient  and 
indispensable  appurtenances  of  the  fishing 
banks. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  explanation  of 
this  surrender  to  the  French  of  a  region  stretch- 
ing about  three  hundred  miles  from  north  to 
south  on  the  west  coast,  the  arrangement  was 
solemnly  ratified  by  a  treaty  which  still  remains 
in  force.  Hence  the  cause  of  most  of  the  evils 
which  aftlict  Newfoundland.  For  nearly  a 
hundred  years  after  the  signature  of  the  Treaty 


of  Utrecht  the  arrangement  which  gave  the  west 
shore  to  the  French  worked  fairly  well ;  but  in 
the  last  fifty  years  Newfoundland,  from  being  a 
mere  fishing  station,  became  a  thriving  Colony. 
It  attracted  emigrants  from  the  other  side  of 
the  Atlantic,  notably  from  Ireland ;  they  in- 
creased and  multiplied,  and  at  last  succeeded 
in  gaining  recognition  as  one  of  the  hardiest 
and  most  industrious  of  all  the  Colonies  vmder 
the  Crown. 

But  no  sooner  was  the  colonisation  of  New- 
foundland begun  than  the  colonists  fell  foul  of 
the  French  shore.  The  more  they  increased 
and  multiplied,  the  more  intolerable  did  it  seem 
to  them  that  they  should  be  deprived  of  the 
right  to  use  three  hundred  miles  of  their  own 
coast. 

In  virtue  of  a  treaty  the  original  terms  of 
which  had  been  strained  to  such  an  extent  as 
to  convert  the  right  conceded  to  the  French  to 
land  and  dry  their  nets  into  a  right  of  veto 
by  them  upon  the  erection  of  any  factories  or 
similar  buildings  along  the  whole  length  of  the 
coast,  there  sprang  up  the  agitation  against  the 
French  shore — an  agitation  which  has  increased 
in  vehemence  with  years ;  and  although  it  may 
be  for  the  moment  lulled,  it  may  at  any  time 
revive  and  rage  with  all  the  more  fury  because 
it  has  been  quieted  for  a  time. 

Some  years  ago  I  had  an  opportunity  of 
discussing  the  whole  matter  at  length  with  the 
representatives  sent  over  by  the  Newfoundland 
Government  in  order  to  impress  upon  Downing 
Street  the  urgent  importance  of  extinguishing 
the  French  rights  on  the  west  coast.  They 
made  no  hesitation  in  declaring  that,  if  the 
British  Government  finally  refused  to  clear  out 
the  French,  they  would  be  compelled  as  a  mere 
matter  of  self-preservation  to  look  to  the  only 
other  Government  from  whom  they  could  obtain 
relief.  For  some  years  the  question  whether 
Newfoundland  had  not  better  secede  from  the 
Empire  and  appeal  for  the  protection  of  the 
United  States  had  been  in  the  air,  although  it 
did  not  figure  much  in  public  debate  either  on 
platform  or  in  the  press. 

It  is  very  easy  to  understand  how  it  was  that 
the  Newfoundlanders  should  turn  a  wistful 
and  longing  gaze  towards  Washington.  A 
combination  of  economic  and  political  motives 
may  strain  severely  the  allegiance  of  Newfound- 
land to  the  mother  country.  At  present  the 
American  market  is  practically  closed  to  the 
product  of  the  Newfoundland  fisher>'.  Of  the 
million  pounds  worth  of  cod  caught  off  these 
banks  half  goes  to  British  ports  and  the  other  half 
to  Portugal  and  Brazil.  But  Newfoundland  im- 
ports goods  from  the  United  States  of  the  annual 
value  of  ;^30o,ooo.  It  is,  however,  less  for  the 
sake  of  opening  the  American  market  than  for 


Mk.  culdwix  smith. 

(Phoicsraph  by  ElUott  ar*  Fry.) 


RT.  HON.  SIR  WILFRID  LAURIER. 
The  Canadian  Premier. 


^^li  w4 

rny^^wji 

HPSjIR  Ji-v  / 

■  .!_*llff'i  J^^ 

h^i .... 

1 

Photograph  by  Jarvis,  Oi/mva.] 


THK    IWRLIAMENT    BUILDINGS'-ATI  OTTAWA. 


Cf  Newfoundland  and  Canada. 


41 


the  gain  of  getting  rid  of  the  French  shore 
difficulty  that  annexation  might  come  to  be 
desired  by  our  Colonists. 

The   question   of  the  French  shore   is   very 
simple.     France  has   certain  undeniable  rights 
dating  from  the  eighteenth  century,  secured  by  a 
formal  treaty  to   which   England  was  a  party. 
Circumstances   have   changed  since  that  treaty 
was  negotiated.      A  state  of  things  has  sprung 
up  which  renders  the  provisions  of  that  treaty 
intolerably  irksome  to  a  third  party  which  was 
practically  not  in  existence  when  the  treaty  was 
signed,  namely,   the   self-governing   Colony   of 
Newfoundland.     The  maintenance  of  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht  entails  hardship 
upon   the    Newfoundlanders,  from   which   they 
ask  our  Government  to  relieve  them.     France 
is  by  no  means  irreconcilable  upon  this  ques- 
tion.     She    recognises    the    difficulty    of    our 
position   and   says,  in  effect,  that  she  is  quite 
willing  to  surrender  her  rights  under  the  Treaty 
of  Utrecht — for  a  consideration.     The  question 
is   what   that  consideration  shall  be.     For  the 
last  twenty  years  the  matter  has  been  discussed 
between    London  and  Paris  without  any   con- 
clusion  being  arrived    at.      Our    offers    have 
never    been    regarded   as    satisfactory   by   the 
French,  and  we  have  hitherto  been  unable  to 
offer   what   the    French  would    accept   as    an 
adequate   equivalent   for   the   abandonment  of 
their   rights   under    the   treaty.       The    British 
Government  has  given   too   many  hostages  to 
fortune  in  all  parts  of  the  world  to  dare  press 
too  urgently  for  a  settlement  of  the  question. 
The  Newfoundlanders  understand  perfectly  well 
that  we  cannot  scjueeze  France  in  Newfound- 
land without  exposmg  ourselves  to  a  retaliatory 
squeeze  in    Egypt.     Hence   they  say  that  the 
local  interests  of  Newfoundland  have  been  and 
are   at   this   moment   being   sacrificed    to    the 
general  interests  of  the  British  Empire.     That 
is  the  truth,  and  there  is  no  gainsaying  it. 

Suppose  one  fine  day  that  the  Union  Jack 
was  hauled  down,  and  that  the  United  Slates 
was  suddenly  invested  with  the  complete 
sovereignty  over  Newfoundland,  what  would 
happen  ?  There  would  probably  be  a  Com- 
mission appointed  to  take  evidence  about  the 
French  shore  question.  That  evidence  would  be 
presented  to  both  Houses  of  Congress,  when  it 
would  appear  that  the  growth  of  the  Colony 
was  hampered  and  its  permanent  interests 
injuriously  affected  by  the  maintenance  of  the 
provisions  of  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht.  It  would 
further  be  reported  that,  in  order  to  give  the 
Colony  a  fair  chance  and  to  relieve  the  United 
States  of  a  constant  source  of  irritation  threaten- 
ing the  general  peace,  the  rights  of  France  must 
be  terminated.  After  that  report  had  been 
received    and    taken    into    consideration,    the 


American  Secretary  of  State  would  be  instructed 
to  write  to  the  French  Government  to  the  eftect 
that  the  provisions  of  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht 
relating  to  the  west  coast  of  the  recently- 
acquired  United  States  territory  of  Newfound- 
land were  inflicting  an  intolerable  grievance 
upon  the  inhabitants  of  Newfoundland;  there- 
fore the  United  States  Government  must 
formally  give  notice  of  their  decision  to  termi- 
nate the  treaty,  but  would  be  very  glad  to 
enter  into  negotiations  with  France  as  to  the 
compensation  which  France  might  claim  for 
the  loss  of  her  rights.  If  the  two  Governments 
were  unable  to  arrive  at  an  amicable  under- 
standing as  to  what  compensation  was  adequate, 
the  United  States  would  be  willing  to  refer  the 
question  for  adjudication  to  a  court  of  arbitra- 
tion constituted  under  the  rules  of  the  Hague 
Conference. 

France  might  sulk,  and  a  good  many  angry 
articles  might  be  written  in  the  French  papers, 
but  the  position  of  the  United  States  would 
be  unassailable.  The  Americans  have  given 
no  hostages  to  fortune  which  would  compel 
them  to  think  twice  and  even  thrice  before 
incurring  French  resentment.  Their  demand 
for  the  removal  of  the  restrictions  which  were 
throttling  the  development  of  an  American 
tenitory  would  be  morally  sound,  and  their 
willingness  to  refer  the  question  of  compensa- 
tion to  arbitration  would  place  their  action 
upon  an  incontestably  legal  footing.  The  United 
States,  in  short,  could  in  one  day  liberate 
the  Newfoundlanders  from  the  presence  of  the 
French  on  their  shores  without  danger  of  war 
and  without  sacrificing  American  interests  in 
any  quarter  of  the  world.  The  Newfound- 
landers have  for  some  time  past  been  slowly 
and  reluctantly  arriving  at  the  conclusion  that 
this  is  what  England  cannot  do.  On  the  day 
when  they  arrive  at  the  final  decision  that  it  is 
no  use  looking  any  longer  to  Downing  Street 
for  help,  the  movement  in  favour  of  American 
annexation  may  sweep  all  before  it. 

There  are  two  other  considerations  which 
should  not  be  forgotten.  One  is  that  a  large 
proportion  of  the  colonists  are  either  of  Irish 
birth  or  Irish  extraction.  There  are  no  more 
enthusiastic  supporters  of  the  Irish  National 
cause  than  many  of  the  leading  Irish  citizens  of 
St.  John's.  Nothing  would  give  them  greater 
joy  than  in  this  way  to  avenge  the  wrongs  of 
Ireland  upon  a  Unionist  Government. 

That,  it  may  be  said,  is  but  a  sentimental 
consideration.  It  is  likely  to  be  strongly  rein- 
forced by  the  very  material  argument  of  an 
appeal  to  the  breeches  pocket.  It  is  not  so 
many  years  ago  since  the  Newfoundland  local 
legislature  negotiated  a  reciprocity  treaty  with 
the  Government  of  Washington  for  the  purpose 


42 


The  Americanisation  of  the   World. 


of  securing  for  their  fish  access  to  the  American 
market.  Rightly  or  wrongly,  the  British  Govern- 
ment refused  to  ratify  that  treaty,  and  it  fell 
through.  If  the  British  connection  means  not 
only  the  maintenance  indefinitely  of  the  French 
on  the  west  coast,  but  also  of  a  barrier 
between  the  Newfoundland  Fisheries  and  the 
immense  market  of  the  United  States,  is  it 
unreasonable  to  think  that  the  drift  towards  the 
centre  of  gravity  may  become  irresistible  ? 

Such  a  secession  would  be  serious  indeed. 
Newfoundland  has  hitherto  refused  to  cast  in  its 
lot  with  the  Dominion  of  Canada.  It  has 
jealously  preserved  its  own  independence. 
Like  a  great  advanced  bastion  of  the  Ameri- 
can Continent,  it  lies  right  across  the  great 
ocean  roadway  which  leads  from  Liver- 
pool to  the  St.  Lawrence.  In  the  hands  of 
a  hostile  power  the  harbour  of  St.  John's 
would  be  a  deadly  menace  to  the  whole  of  our 
Canadian  trade.  Both  from  a  naval  and  com- 
mercial point  the  loss  of  Newfoundland  would 
be  so  serious  a  blow  to  the  Empire  that  it  is 
probable  an  attempt  would  be  made  to  prevent 
it  by  force  of  arms.  The  right  of  secession 
which  Mr.  Chamberlain  has  publicly  acknow- 
ledged is  enjoyed  by  the  "independent  sister 
nations"  of  Canada  and  Australia,  would  pro- 
bably be  denied  to  the  smaller  Colony  of  New- 
foundland ;  but,  if  so,  it  would  only  mean  annex- 
ation at  two  removes,  because  the  wdt  of  man  is 
unable  to  devise  or  the  resources  of  the  British 
Empire  are  inadequate  to  provide  means  where- 
by we  could  hold  down  unwilling  subjects  in  all 
parts  of  the  world. 

When  Englishmen  discuss  the  possible  pull  of 
the  gravitation  of  the  United  States  upon  their 
Empire,  they  usually  confine  their  remarks  to 
Canada.  They  do  not  realise  that  Canada, 
being  by  far  the  largest  and  most  important  of 
the  British  American  possessions,  would  probably 
be  the  last  to  succumb  to  the  continually  in- 
creasing force  of  gravitation  exercised  by  its 
southern  neighbour.  Canada  alone  of  all  the 
British  Colonies  in  the  Western  Hemisphere  is 
large  enough  and  strong  enough  to  render  its 
independent  existence  even  thinkable  if  the 
protecting  agis  of  Great  Britain  were  withdrawn. 
All  the  other  Colonies  would  probably  drop  like 
ripe  plums  into  L'ncle  Sam's  hat  but  for  their 
connection  with  Great  Britain.  The  Dominion 
of  Canada,  however,  has  ambitions  of  its  own, 
and  is  rather  inclined  to  believe  that,  if  annexa- 
tion is  to  take  place,  it  would  be  better  for  the 
world  if  the  United  States  were  annexed  by 
Canada  rather  than  Canada  by  the  United  States. 
Mr.  Evans,  Secretary  of  the  Hamilton  Canadian 
Club,  maintained  that  the  future  belonged  to 
Canada,  and  he  quoted  words  said  to  have  been 


uttered   by  the   late   Secretary   Seward   to   the 
following  effect : — 

"  Having  its  Atlantic  seaport  at  Halifax,  and 
its  Pacific  depot  near  Vancouver  Island,  British 
America  would  inevitably  draw  to  it  the  com- 
merce of  Europe,  Asia,  and  the  United  States. 
Thus  from  a  mere  colonial  dependency  it  would 
assume  a  controlling  rank  in  the  world.  To  her 
other  nations  would  be  tributary ;  and  in  vain 
would  the  United  States  attempt  to  -be  her 
rival."  * 

Mr.  Evans  does  not  think  the  fulfilment  of 
this  prophecy  at  all  improbable.  He  maintains 
that  whereas  since  1760  the  population  of 
Canada  has  increased  eighty-fold,  for  then  it  was 
only  60,000,  the  population  of  the  United  States, 
which  was  then  3,000,000,  has  only  increased 
twenty-five-fold.  In  his  opinion  the  United 
States  would  have  more  need  of  Canada  than 
Canada  of  the  United  States,  for,  as  their  terri- 
tories are  being  filled  up,  and  their  forests  des- 
troyed, in  the  not  far  future  they  would  be  largely 
dependent "  upon  other  countries  for  their  raw 
material,  while  Canada  has  more  undeveloped 
wealth  than  any  other  country  in  the  world. 

The  Canadians  are  the  Scotch  of  the  Western 
Hemisphere,  and  have  just  as  good  an  opinion 
of  themselves  as  our  neighbours  in  North  Britain, 
who  to  this  day  resent  bitterly  any  suggestion 
that  the  union  which  merged  Scotland  and 
England  in  Great  Britain  was  the  annexation  of 
the  smaller  country  by  the  larger.  Scotland 
and  England  were  united  first  by  the  golden 
circlet  of  the  Crown  when  James  I.  and  VI. 
crossed  the  Tweed,  and  founded  an  ill-fated 
dynasty  in  Great  Britain.  Such  monarchical 
contrivances  are  not  available  in  the  New  World. 
It  is  probable  that  the  Union,  if  it  is  to  be 
effected,  will  be  due,  not  to  any  golden 
circlets  of  the  Crown,  but  to  the  much  more  pro- 
saic but  not  less  potent  agency  of  the  almighty 
dollar.  If  the  Canadians  decide  to  throw  in 
their  lot  with   the    United   States,   John   Bull 

*  It  is  somewhat  difficult  to  believe  that  Mr.  Seward 
actually  said  this,  for  he  appears  to  have  made  a  remark 
in  a  very  different  sense  in  the  year  i860.  He  said  : 
"  Standing  here  and  looking  far  off  into  the  Xorth-\Vest, 
I  see  the  Russian  as  he  busily  occupies  himself  in  estab- 
lishing seaports  and  towns  and  fortifications  on  the  verge 
of  this  continent  as  the  outposts  of  St.  Petersburg, 
and  I  say,  '  Go  on,  and  build  up  your  outposts  all  along 
the  coast,  even  to  the  Arctic  Ocean :  they  will  yet 
become  the  outposts  of  my  own  countrj- — monuments  of 
the  civilisation  of  the  United  States  in  the  North- West.' 
So  I  look  off  on  Prince  Rupert's  Land  and  Canada,  and 
see  there  an  ingenious,  enterprising,  and  ambitious  people 
occupied  with  bridging  rivers  and  constructing  canals, 
railroads,  and  telegraphs,  to  organise  and  preserve  great 
British  provinces  north  of  the  Great  Lakes,  the  St.  Law- 
rence, and  around  the  shores  of  Hudson's  Bay,  and  I  am 
able  to  say,  '  It  is  very  well ;  you  are  building  excellent 
States  to  be  hereafter  admitted  into  the  American 
Union.'  ' 


Of  Nezufoiuidland  and  Canada. 


43 


will  not  spend  one  red  cent  in  thwarting  their 
wishes.  As  an  "  independent  sister  nation,"  Mr. 
Chamberlain  has  publicly  declared  they  have 
unrestricted  liberty  of  secession  from  the  Empire, 
for  the  British  Empire  is  much  more  loosely 
compacted  together  than  the  American  Republic, 
which  welded  its  States  into  one  organic  whole 
by  the  great  Civil  ^\'ar.  But  it  is  also  tiaie  that, 
though  no  one  in  the  United  Kingdom  would 
raise  a  finger  to  prevent  Canada  acting  as  she 
thought  best  for  her  own  interests,  any  attempt 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States  to  annex  the 
Canadians  against  their  will  would  be  resisted 
by  the  whole  force  of  the  British  Empire.  This 
is  so  clearly  understood  on  both  sides  that  no 
one  on  the  American  Continent  dreams  of 
taking  by  force  that  which  could  only  be  valuable 
if  it  was  tendered  by  consent.  Hence,  in  dis- 
cussing the  future  of  Canada,  we  may  dismiss 
altogether  from  our  minds  all  question  of  a 
solution  by  armed  force. 

The  frontier  which  divides  the  Dominion 
from  the  Republic  is  unfortified  on  either  side, 
but  exists  by  consent  of  both.  Nevertheless, 
although  it  is  not  guarded  by  soldiers  or  protected 
by  cannon,  it  is  infested  with  cust^om-houses,  the 
disappearance  of  which  would  be  so  great  and  so 
palpable  a  gain  that  the  desire  to  get  rid  of  them 
may  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  influences  which 
tend  in  favour  of  annexation.  I  remember 
the  late  Mr.  Bayard,  just  as  he  was  leaving  the 
American  Embassy  in  London,  describing  to 
me  what  he  regarded  as  the  unpardonable  mis- 
take which  was  made  by  the  Protectionists  of 
the  United  States  at  the  close  of  the  Civil  War. 
"  No  one,"  he  said,  "  has  ever  rendered  adequate 
justice  to  the  service  which  the  Union  received 
from  the  Canadians  during  the  whole  of  that 
tremendous  struggle.  With  the  exception  of 
one  or  two  ridiculous  raids  by  Confederate 
sympathisers,  we  were  able  to  leave  the  whole 
of  our  northern  frontier  without  a  garrison. 
Not  only  so,  but  we  used  Canada  as  an  in- 
exhaustible source  of  supplies  throughout  the 
whole  war.  Yet  when  at  the  close  of  the  war 
a  deputation  from  the  Canadians  went  to 
Washington  to  plead  for  free  access  to  American 
markets,  they  were  told  they  could  not  expect 
to  have  the  privileges  of  American  citizens  unless 
they  came  under  the  American  flag.  Now  the 
Canadian  can  be  led,  but  he  cannot  be  bullied. 
The  deputation,  instead  of  applying  for  the 
privileges  of  American  citizenship,  went  home, 
federated  the  Dominion,  constructed  the  Cana- 
dian Pacific,  and  postponed  for  many  years  the 
inevitable  union  of  North  America  under  one 
flag.  A  little  less  selfishness  and  a  little  more 
statesmanship  would  have  brought  them  all  in 
long  ago." 

Whether  Mr.  Bayard  was  right  or  wrong  in 


his  account  of  the  genesis  of  what  may  be  called 
Canadian  Nationalism,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  since  that  date  the  Canadians  have  reso- 
lutely turned  their  gaze  from  Washington  to 
Westminster.  There  is  something  almost  pa- 
thetic in  the  anxiety  of  our  Canadian  fellow 
subjects  to  emphasize  their  loyalty  to  the 
Empire.  No  one  does  them  the  injustice  to 
believe  that  they  really  were  swept  off"  their  feet 
by  any  passionate  feeling  against  the  Boers 
when  they  sent  their  contingents  to  assist  the 
mother  country  in  South  Africa.  They  had 
been  waiting  for  their  chance  to  demonstrate 
their  affection,  and  they  seized  it,  not  caring  very 
much  about  the  merits  of  the  quarrel  in  which 
they  shed  their  blood.  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier,  it  is 
true,  made  eloquent  speeches,  putting  the  best 
face  upon  the  cause  in  which  Canadian  blood 
had  been  shed,  but  in  order  to  do  so  he  found 
it  necessary  to  make  protestations  as  to  the 
liberties  and  privileges  to  be  extended  to  the 
Boers,  the  realisation  of  which  has  been  post- 
poned to  the  Greek  Kalends.  All  that  they 
knew,  or  cared  to  know,  was  that  England, 
Mother  England,  was  calling  for  their  help.  So 
for  England,  Mother  England,  they  poured  in 
thousands  to  South  Africa,  where  they  shed 
their  blood  without  stint  in  defence  of  the  flag. 
Last  autumn  they  gave  the  Heir  to  the  Throne 
and  his  wife  a  welcome  as  enthusiastic  as  that 
which  they  received  in  Australia.  More  than 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  say.  Surely  then 
Canada  is  in  no  danger  of  succumbing  to  the 
Americanisation  which  is  sweeping  everything 
into  the  arms  of  the  United  States  ? 

The  same  sjnrit  of  loyalty  led  the  Canadian 
Parliament  to  take  the  initiative  in  establishing 
the  principle  of  preferential  terms  for  British 
goods.  They  could  only  do  this  by  a  side- 
wind, as  it  were,  offering  a  reduction  of  from 
25  to  30  per  cent,  upon  imports  from 
countries  which  did  not  tax  Canadian  goods 
— a  provision  which  had  the  practical  result 
of  reducing  the  import  duty  on  British  goods 
from  25  to  30  per  cent,  below  that  levied  upon 
goods  imported  from  the  United  States.  At  the 
same  time,  the  majority  of  American  imports 
come  in  free,  so  that  if  an  average  is  taken  on 
all  the  goods  imported  from  the  United  States 
and  on  those  imported  from  the  United  King- 
dom, the  average  tax  is  still  somewhat  higher 
on  British  goods  than  on  American.  The 
Canadians,  however,  did  their  best,  and  have 
borne  submissively  their  exclusion  by  Germany 
from  the  most  favoured  nation  treatment  as  the 
penalty  of  their  attempt  to  draw  closer  the  ties 
which  link  them  to  Great  Britain. 

Down  to  the  year  1887  there  was  a  Secession 
Party  in  Nova  Scotia  :  but  since  then  there  has 
been  no  party  in  any  province  of  the  Dominion 


44 


The  Amcricanisation  of  iJie   World. 


that  has  advocated  annexation  to  the  United 
States.  Here  and  there  there  are  annexationists, 
and  those  who  are  in  favour  of  Canadian  inde- 
pendence are  even  more  numerous.  But,  taking 
it  as  a  whole,  Canadians  are  passionately  loyal 
to  the  old  flag,  and  I  think  it  is  extremely 
probable  tliat  there  is  no  part  of  the  King's 
dominions  in  which  this  Annual  will  be  read 
with  more  profound  disapproval — I  might  even 
say  indignation — than  in  the  Dominion  of 
Canada.  Nevertheless  this  loyalty,  although 
very  vehement  and  very  sincere,  can  hardly  be 
regarded  as  a  sufficient  barrier  against  the  all- 
pervading  Americanism,  which  will  inevitably 
bring  the  Dominion  and  the  RepubHc  into  a 
much  closer  union  than  that  which  at  present 
exists. 

The  first  great  force  which  operates  increas- 
ingly with  potent  force  is  economic.  Despite 
all  the  efforts  of  the  Laurier  Cabinet  to  encour- 
age British  trade  at  the  expense  of  America, 
Canada  remains  the  best  market  of  the  United 
States.  Every  Canadian,  man,  woman,  or  child, 
spends  on  an  average  ^^5  a  year  in  the  purchase 
of  American  goods.  The  German  average  is 
about  a  guinea  a  head,  while  the  average  sale  of 
.\merican  goods  in  Great  Britain  is  below  7  s. 
a  head.  I'wo-thirds  of  the  American  goods 
purchased  by  Canadians  consist  of  American 
manufactures.  The  total  value  of  American 
imports  into  Canada  amounted  to  ;^2  2,000,000 
sterhng.  Not  only  is  it  large  in  itself,  but  it  is 
increasing.  In  1875,  of  all  Canada's  purchases 
abroad,  50  per  cent,  came  from  Great  Britain. 
As  this  percentage  began  to  drop,  the  experi- 
ment of  the  preferential  duty  was  tried,  but  failed 
to  arrest  the  decrease.  In  1897  the  proportion 
of  British  imports  had  dropped  to  26  per  cent., 
and  in  1900  to  25  per  cent..  In  1875  the 
United  States  sold  to  Canada  42  per  cent,  of 
her  total  imports ;  in  1897  this  had  risen  to 
55  per  cent.,  and  in  1900  to  over  60  per  cent. 
The  United  States,  therefore,  notwithstanding 
the  preferential  duty,  has  more  than  taken  the 
position  which  we  occupied  with  the  Canadian 
purchaser  in  1875.  It  was  inevitable  that  this 
should  be  so.  The  United  States  is  close  at 
hand ;  the  Canadians  are  American  in  their 
tastes,  and  goods  prepared  for  the  American 
market  find  a  ready  sale  across  the  frontier.  It 
is  a  remarkable  fact,  in  view  of  all  that  is  being 
talked  to-day  about  the  value  of  the  Central  and 
South  American  markets,  that  the  Canadians, 
who  are  only  5,500,000  in  number,  buy  more 
goods  from  the  United  States  than  are  pur- 
chased by  all  the  inhabitants  of  all  the  Central 
and  South  American  Republics  that  are  to  be 
found  between  the  Rio  Grande  and  Cape  Horn. 
The  bulk  of  the  Canadian  exports  to  the  United 
States  consists  of  raw  materials,  lumber,  and  the 


like,  in  return  for  which  she  takes  the   goods 
manufactured  in  American  mills  and  factories. 

The  Americans  are  keenly  alive  to  the  im- 
portance of  developing  this  trade,  and  one  of 
the  first  deputations  which  President  Roosevelt 
had  to  receive  was  that  organised  by  the 
Boston  Chamber  of  Commerce  in  favour  of 
reciprocity  with  Canada.  What  the  Boston 
business  men  fear  is  that  unless  something  is 
done  in  the  way  of  reducing  American  taxes  on 
Canadian  imports  the  Canadians  will  either 
increase  the  duties  upon  American  goods,  or 
redouble  their  efforts  to  induce  Great  Britain  to 
adopt  the  principle  of  a  preferential  tariff  in 
favour  of  Colonial  and  against  foreign  and 
American  goods.  The  only  three  interests  in 
the  United  States  that  appear  to  be  offering  any 
serious  opposition  are  the  lumber  interests  of 
the  North-West,  the  bituminous  coal  miners  of 
Maryland  and  West  Virginia,  and  the  fishermen 
of  Gloucester. 

President  Roosevelt  returned  a  sympathetic 
but  non-committal  answer  to  the  deputation. 

The  Canadians,  apparently,  have  grown  tired 
of  expecting  any  concessions  from  the  United 
States.  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier  this  autumn  made 
a  definite  declaration  that  the  Canadian  tariff 
was  to  remain  as  it  was,  and  that  any  overtures 
on  the  subject  of  reciprocity  would  have  to  be 
made  from  Washington  to  Ottawa,  and  not  from 
Ottawa  to  Washington.  The  slump  in  Protec- 
tion, so  long  foreseen,  is  no  doubt  on  its  way, 
but  for  the  moment  it  tarries. 

It  should  never  be  forgotten  that  the  Irish 
element  in  Canada  is  very  strong,  how  strong 
may  be  inferred  from  two  facts.  In  1887,  when 
Mr.  Balfour  introduced  his  Coercion  Bill  for 
Ireland,  the  Canadian  Parliament,  despite  the 
strongest  opposition  from  the  Canadian  Conser- 
vative Ministry  then  in  power,  passed  a  resolu- 
tion by  a  majority  of  nearly  four  to  one  strongly 
condemning  the  Irish  policy  of  Mr.  Balfour, 
and  affirming  their  devotion  to  Home  Rule. 
That  the  Canadians  have  not  changed  in  their 
sentiment  may  be  inferred  from  the  second  fact 
that  when  Mr.  John  Redmond  visited  Canada  in 
1 901,  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier  and  other  Ministers  were 
present  at  a  banquet,  by  which  the  Irish  Nation- 
alist leader  was  welcomed  into  the  Dominion. 
Sir  Wilfrid's  presence  gave  great  scandal  to  our 
Unionists  at  home,  who  profess  to  be  utterly 
unable  to  reconcile  his  support  of  Mr.  Redmond 
and  of  Home  Rule  with  his  devotion  to  the 
Empire.  In  reality  if  they  but  opened  their 
eyes,  they  would  see  that  the  two  things  are 
inseparably  connected. 

The  interchange  of  cominodities  between 
two  communities  speaking  the  same  language, 
and  living  on  either  side  of  an  imaginary  line, 
is  only  one  of  the  economic  forces  that  would 


Of  Newfoundland  and  Canada. 


45 


make  for  Union.  For  many  years  past  there  has 
been  a  steady  stream  of  immigration  from 
Canada  to  the  United  States.  There  are  very 
few  Canadian  famiHes  who  have  not  one  or 
more  relatives  who  have  gone  to  seek  their 
fortunes  in  the  great  American  cities,  or  on  the 
fertile  prairies  of  the  United  States.  There  are 
more  emigrants  from  Canada  in  the  United 
States  in  proportion  to  their  population  than 
from  any  other  country.  The  richer  and  more 
developed  lands  to  the  south  have  an  irresis- 
tible attraction  for  the  more  enterprising  and 
ambitious  Canadians.  When  Mr.  Dryden,  the 
Minister  for  Agricuhure  in  Ontario,  invested 
his  money  in  farming  he  put  it  into  a  ranch  in 
Dakota.  Of  late  years  a  growing  tendency  has 
been  observable  for  the  tide  of  immigration  to 
flow  the  other  way.  In  the  North-West  there  are 
still  vast  areas  of  good  land  to  be  had  for  next 
to  nothing.  Naturally  as  the  land  to  the  south 
fills  up  settlers  will  cross  the  frontier,  and  the 
process  of  colonisation  from  the  States  will 
steadily  Americanise  the  North- West. 

There  is  little  or  no  difference  in  the  social 
and  political  conditions  of  the  settlers,  so  it  is 
as  natural  for  them  to  cross  and  recross  the 
frontier  as  it  is  for  people  in  Sussex  to  cross 
into  Hampshire,  or  vice-versa.  Thus  there  are 
being  woven  across  and  across,  from  side  to 
side  of  the  invisible  frontier  line,  ties  which 
tend  to  weave  the  two  communities  into  one. 

In  addition  to  the  influence  of  commerce 
and  of  emigration  there  is  another  force  which 
may  be  still  more  potent.  I  refer  to  the  fact 
that  the  great  American  capitalists,  ever  on  the 
look-out  for  fresh  fields  in  which  to  invest  their 
millions,  have  begun  to  develop  on  a  great 
scale  the  immense  mineral  resources  which 
are  as  yet  practically  untapped  in  the  Canadian 
Dominion.  American  capital  is  pouring  into 
the  country.  Few  things  have  attracted  more 
attention  in  recent  industrial  development  than 
the  extent  to  which  American  capitalists  are  in- 
vesting their  money  in  the  exploitation  of  the 
immense  and  almost  virgin  resources  of  Canada. 
The  industrial  annexation  of  the  Dominion  is 
in  full  swing.  The  Vanderbilt  railway  com- 
bination has  taken  in  hand  the  development  of 
the  enormous  coal  and  iron  district  of  Nova 
Scotia,  proceeding  in  the  campaign  with  that 
combination  of  restless  energy  and  methodical 
preparation  that  characterises  the  great  American 
Trusts.  Further  west,  the  Dominion  Iron  and 
Steel  Company,  under  an  American  President, 
with  a  capital  of  over  twenty  million  dollars, 
has  established  one  of  the  most  gigantic  steel 
works  in  the  world  at  Sault  St.  Marie  on  Lake 
Superior.  In  this  exploitation  of  Canadian  re- 
sources by  American  capital,  the  Parliament  of 
the  Dominion  has  interested  itself  actively.     A 


land  grant  of  over  five  million  acres,  a  subsidy 
of  ^200,000  for  real  construction,  and  con- 
tracts for  a  million  pounds  worth  of  rails  to  be 
delivered  in  the  next  five  years,  have  given  the 
Company  confidence.  It  is  going  ahead. 
Americans  are  setting  the  pace  in  the 
Dominion. 

Rumours  from  time  to  time  appear  in  the 
newspapers  that  this  or  the  other  combination 
of  American  millionaires  have  decided  to 
acquire  a  controlling  interest  in  Canada's  one 
great  railway,  the  Canadian  Pacific ;  but  although 
these  remain  rumours  there  is  every  reason  to 
expect  that  the  men  who  have  engineered  the 
great  combinations  which  exist  in  order  to 
bar  out"  competition,  will  not  long  abstain 
from  an  attempt  to  control  the  great  inter- 
oceanic  railway  by  which  the  Canadians  have 
linked  together  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific. 

But  dismissing  this  as  a  mere  possibility  of 
the  future,  we  have  sufficient  evidence  to  prove 
that  American  capital  is  ever  tending  to  acquire 
more  and  more  interest  in  the  development  of 
Canadian  resources.  Commerce,  emigration, 
and  investments  all  tell  in  the  same  direction 
with  an  automatic  and  persistent  force  which 
is  not  materially  affected  by  political  agitation. 
Sir  Hiram  Maxim  told  me  the  other  day  that, 
when  he  was  last  in  Canada,  he  had  been 
approached  by  some  owners  of  valuable  de- 
posits and  water  privileges  to  assist  them  in 
placing  their  property  upon  the  British  market. 
They  expatiated  upon  the  intrinsic  value  of 
the  property  which  they  had  to  dispose  of, 
and,  finally,  by  way  of  a  crowning  inducement, 
they  said  to  him,  "  This  property  is  worth  two 
hundred  million  dollars,  but  when  annexation 
comes  it  will  be  worth  two  hundred  million 
pounds  sterling."  "  What,"  said  Sir  Hiram,  "  I 
thought  you  were  all  enthusiastic  i  loyalists." 
"  We  are  loyal  to  the  Empire ;  but  we,"  was  the 
reply,  "  all  know  that  annexation  will  come 
some  day,  and,  when  it  comes,  it  will  much 
more   than  double  the  value  of  our  property." 

We  now  pass  to  consider  the  influences,  which 
are  partly  economic  and  partly  political,  which 
point  in  the  same  direction.  There  are  at  least 
two — one  at  each  extremity  of  the  Dominion. 
The  first  is  the  long-standing  and  almost  in- 
soluble dispute  about  the  fisheries  on  the 
Atlantic  seaboard.  The  quarrels  between  the 
fishermen  of  Nova  Scotia  and  the  fishermen 
of  Massachusetts  have  been  for  many  years  a 
fertile  source  of  friction.  The  Canadians 
bitterly  resent  any  poaching  by  American  fisher- 
men in  Canadian  waters.  Collisions  between 
the  Canadian  and  New  England  fishermen  have 
created  so  much  ill-feeling  in  the  past  that  the 
fishery  dispute  has  been  one  of  the  standing 
dishes  at   every  Anglo-American   repast.      For 


46 


The  Americanisation  of  the   World. 


some  years  now  a  modus  vivendi  has  been  in 
existence,  which  avoids  any  of  the  old  irritating 
incidents  of  the  capture  and  confiscation  of 
American  ships  within  the  three-mile  limit ;  but 
the  difficulty  is  not  settled.  It  has  only  been 
postponed.  So  acute  was  the  trouble  at  one 
time  that  Mr.  Edward  Atkinson,  in  1887, 
brought  before  the  New  York  Chamber  of 
Commerce  a  proposal  that  the  United  States 
should  purchase  from  the  Dominion  of  Canada 
New  Brunswick,  Nova  Scotia,  and  Prince 
Edward  Island,  for  the  sum  of  ;^i  0,000,000. 
which  he  estimated  was  about  the  share  in  the 
Canadian  debt  for  which  these  provinces  were 
responsible.  The  suggestion  came  to  nothing, 
but  that  it  was  made  is  significant.  It  shows 
that  the  Americans  who  bought  Alaska  from 
Russia  are  quite  capable  of  attempting  to  settle 
other  territorial  difficulties  in  the  same  com- 
mercial fashion. 

The  other  difficulty  resulted  from  the  dis- 
covery of  gold  on  the  Klondyke.  The  Canadians 
naturally  wished  to  have  access  to  their  gold- 
fields  without  passing  through  an  American 
Custom  House.  The  Americans,  on  the  other 
hand,  maintained  that  until  gold  was  discovered 
the  Canadians  themselves  recognised  that 
Skagway,  which  may  be  regarded  as  the  ocean 
gate  of  Klondyke,  was  part  and  parcel  of  the 
United  States,  and  they  resent  the  attempt  of 
Canada  to  possess  herself  of  an  open  door  to 
the  sea  as  an  infraction  of  the  Monroe  doctrine, 
and  an  attempt  to  aggrandise  the  British  Empire 
at  the  cost  of  the  American  Republic.  The 
proposal  to  settle  this  dispute  by  arbitration 
miscarried,  owing  to  the  short-sighted  objection 
taken  by  our  Foreign  Office  to  the  American 
proposition  that  in  such  arbitration  the  umpire 
should  be  chosen  from  the  New  World,  which 
means  that  he  should  be  either  a  Central 
American  or  a  South  American.  The  proposal 
•was  one  which  told  altogether  against  the 
United  States,  for  the  natural  bias  of  the  Spanish 
Americans  is  by  no  means  in  favour  of  the 
United  States.  ThQ  proposal,  however,  dropped 
through,  and  the  Skagway  question  remains 
among  those  unsettled  questions  which  have 
small  regard  for  the  peace  of  nations. 

In  considering  the  probable  future  of  Canada 
one  salient  fact  can  never  be  overlooked. 
Canada  is  not  a  homogeneous  English-speaking 
community.  The  province  of  Quebec  is  essen- 
tially French  in  speech,  Catholic  in  religion, 
and  although  loyal  to  the  Empire  this  loyalty  is 
the  result  of  the  Liberal  policy  adopted  as  the 
result  of  Lord  Durham's  mission,  yet  it  jealously 
preserves  its  essential  French  nationality.  It 
is  indeed  a  foreign  nation  within  a  British 
Dominion,  and  its  existence  materially  com- 
plicates the  question  under  consideration.     As 


Mr.  Goldwin  Smith  said,  "When  there  is  a 
solid  mass  of  people  of  one  race  inhabiting  a 
compact  territory,  with  a  language,  religion, 
character,  laws,  tendencies,  aspirations  and 
sentiments  of  its  own,  there  is  de  facto  a  nation." 
But  the  curious  thing  is  that  authorities,  both 
Canadian  and  American,  differ  entirely  as  to 
whether  the  existence  of  this  French  nation  will 
tend  to  accelerate  or  retard  the  union  of  Canada 
and  the  United  States.  When  the  Duke  of 
Argyll  returned  from  Canada  after  serving  his 
term  as  Governor-General,  he  told  me  that  he 
regarded  the  French  Canadians  as  one  of  the 
great  obstacles  in  the  way  of  annexation.  The 
French  priests  had  got  everything  the  way  they 
wanted  it  in  Quebec,  they  could  not  possibly 
improve  their  position,  and  might  easily  mar  it  if 
they  exchanged  the  Union  Jack  for  the  Stars 
and  Stripes.  Further,  they  could  not  hinder  a 
great  and  continuous  emigration  of  their  young 
people  to  the  mills  of  New  England,  though 
they  regarded  such  an  exodus  with  profound 
uneasiness.  The  French  habitant  once  settled 
in  New  England  was! exposed  to  the  taint  of 
heresy.  Even  if  he  preserved  the  faith  he 
became  lax  and  was  no  longer  as  strict  in  the 
observance  of  his  religious  duties  as  he  was  in 
the  old  home  of  his  childhood.  They  did  not 
become  Protestant  so  much  as  indifferent  or 
freethinkers.  Thus,  in  the  opinion  of  this 
excellent  authority,  the  ultramontane  ascendency 
which  prevailed  in  Quebec  indirectly  operated 
as  a  powerful  bulwark  of  British  Dominion. 

On  the  other  hand,  this  very  element  appears 
to  some  stout  Imperialists  as  one  of  the  greatest 
dangers  confronting  us  in  the  future.  Mr.  T.  W. 
Russell  some  eight  or  nine  years  ago  visited 
Canada,  and  came  back  filled  with  horror  at 
the  state  of  things  in  Quebec.  Mr.  Russell  is 
an  Ulster  Protestant,  and  it  is  evident  from  his 
report  that  he  regarded  the  state  of  things 
which  prevailed  in  Quebec  as  a  disgrace  to  the 
Dominion.  "  Quebec,"  he  said,  "  was  controlled 
by  a  rich,  arrogant  and  powerful  church. 
Cardinal  Taschereau  was  infinitely  more  power- 
ful than  the  Prime  Minister  and  his  Cabinet, 
and  the  British  element  was  being  squeezed  out 
although  the  Englishry  paid  five-sixths  of  the 
taxation."  Mr.  Russell  did  not  on  that  account 
propose  to  expel  French  Canada  from  the 
Dominion,  but  the  sentiments  which  he  ex- 
pressed represent  probably  with  only  too  much 
fidelity  the  conviction  of  the  majority  of  fervent 
Protestants  in  Ontario,  and  reveal  a  snag  upon 
which  the  Dominion  might  be  wrecked.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  the  dominant  idea  of  Lord 
Durham  in  proposing  his  scheme  of  settlement 
was  that  it  would  be  possible  gradually  but 
steadily  to  convert  French  Canada  to  the 
universal   use  of  the  English  language.      His 


Of  Newfoundland  and  Canada. 


47 


scheme  produced  political  contentment  largely 
because  it  failed  utterly  to  realise  his  hope 
about  the  language.  Any  attempt  to  interfere 
with  the  French  language  or  impose  secular 
education  upon  the  French  Catholics  would 
produce  an  agitation  which  in  the  opinion  of 
many  competent  judges  would  have  as  its  effect 
the  annexation  of  French  Canada  to  the  United 
States. 

There  are  some  who  advocate  annexation  on 
the  ground  that  the  French  are  too  large  and 
too  compact  a   mass   of  non-English-speaking 
men  to  be  assimilated  or  absorbed  by  so  small 
a  community  as  that  which  inhabits  the  Canadian 
Dominion.      If  they  were  cast  into  the  Conti- 
nental crucible  of  the  United  States  instead  of 
being  a  separate  nalionality  their  cultivation  of 
French  would  be  a  mere  local  peculiarity  of  no 
more  importance  than  the  obstinacy  with  which 
some    German    and    Norwegian   Colonists   in 
Minnesota  persist  in  refusing  to  use  the  English 
tongue.     On  the  other  hand,  there  are  those 
who  argue  from  a  precisely  opposite  point  of 
view  and  maintain  that  the  United  States  carries 
already  as  many  foreign  elements  as  are  com- 
patible with   the  maintenance  of  the  English- 
speaking  character  of  its  people,  and  they  object 
strongly  to  add  a  clotted  mass  of  a  couple  of 
millions    of    French    habitants    to   the    other 
indigestible  lumps  with  which  the  digestion  of 
Uncle  Sam  has  to  grapple.     In  the  midst  of 
all  this  conflict  and  confusion  of  even  expert 
opinion    it   seems    to   be   tolerably   clear   that 
whether  the  priests  like  it  or  not  the  industrial' 
districts   of   New    England    continue   to   draw 
the  more  adventurous  and  enterprising  youth  of 
French  Canada  across  the  frontier.     Recognis- 
ing   this    as    inevitable,    the    hierarchy    have 
made  more  than  adequate  arrangements  for  the 
spiritual   supervision   of  their  migrating  flock. 
The  net  result  is  that   French   Canada   is  no 
longer   confined   to  the  districts  north   of  the 
St.  Lawrence.     If  an  ethnographical  map  of  the 
North  Eastern  States  were  to  be  published  it 
would  appear  that  Boston  has  almost  as  much 
claim  to  be  considered  a  French  city  as  Quebec 
and  Montreal. 

The  question  as  to  the  effect  which  the  par- 
ticipation of  Canada  in  the  South  African  War 
is  likely  to  have  upon  the  loyalty  of  the  French 
Canadians  is  a  matter  that  has  been  a  good  deal 
discussed.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  first 
time  Canada  sent  her  sons  to  fight  in  an  Im- 
perial quarrel  it  was  the  Protestants  who  were 
enthusiastic,  while  the  Catholics  hung  back, 
although  the  war  was  one  not  with  a  Catholic 
but  with  a  Protestant  people.  Sir  J.  G. 
Bourinot  strongly  opposed  the  war,  but  found 
himself  in  a  small  minority,  owing  to  the 
ascendency  of  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier.    He  expressed 


a  very  strong  conviction  as  to  the  grave  peril 
to  the  Empire  which  was  created  by  putting 
this  new  strain  upon  the  loyalty  of  the  French 
Canadians.  The  Boer  War  did  not  interest 
them  on  either  side,  but  they  dreaded  the  pre- 
cedent. If  Canada  could  be  dragged  into  an 
English  war  with  the  Boers,  how  could  they 
hope  to  escape  the  still  more  urgent  appeal 
which  would  reach  them  if  Great  Britain  were 
to  be  involved  in  a  war  with  France  ?  In  such 
a  case  the  French  Canadian  would  find  himself 
in  exactly  the  same  position  as  the  Cape  Dutch 
find  themselves  to-day,  and  it  is  not  surprising 
that  they  shrank  from  being  committed  to  any 
close  co-operation  with  the  Imperial  arms. 

Even  before  the    Boer  War  arose   to  alarm 
French    Canadian     susceptibilities,    one    well- 
known  French  Canadian,  M.  Louis  Frechette, 
at  one  time  a  member  of  the  Dominion  Parlia- 
ment  and  a  well-known    Canadian  poet,  pub- 
lished an  article  which  was  almost  a  manifesto, 
under   the   title   of    "The    United    States   for 
French  Canadians."   According  to  M.  Frechette, 
French  Canadians  regarded  Imperial  Federation 
with  unfeigned  alarm.     In  an  Imperial  Parlia- 
ment they  would  find  themselves  in  a  hopeless 
minority,  in  face  of  a  majority  inevitably  hostile. 
He  continued  : — "  The  idea  of  Annexation  has 
during  the  last  few  years  made  rapid  progress 
with  Canadians  of  French  origin  ;    the  fact  is 
that  even  to-day,  were  they  consulted  on  the 
question  under  conditions  of  absolute  freedom, 
without  any  moral  pressure  from  either  side,  I 
am    certain    that   a   considerable    majority   of 
Annexationists   would   result   from   the   ballot. 
And   this  majority  cannot  but  increase  .... 
Alliance  with  the  States  of  the  Union  would 
with   one   sweep   of    the   pen  settle   all   those 
thorny  questions  which  now  embarrass  us.     At 
one   stroke  ....  we    should    have   no   more 
hatred  or  rivalry  of  faith  or  race  ;    no  longer 
conquerors  ever  looking  upon   us  as  the  con- 
quered ;  no  longer  any  joint  responsibility  with 
any  European  nation  ;  no  longer  any  frontiers  ; 
no  longer  any  possible  wars ;  a  single  flag  over 
the  whole  of  North  America,  which  then  would 
be,  not  the  holding  of  any  particular  nation, 
but  the  home  of  Humanity  itself,  the  Empire  of 
Peace,  the  richest  and  most  powerful  dominion 
of    the    earth,    under    a    democratic    govern- 
ment." 

That  'the  Canadians,  French  and  English 
alike,  are  loyal  is  the  fortunate  result  of  the 
commonsense  and  resolution  of  our  Whig  states- 
men who,  by  the  display  of  those  qualities  of 
statesmanship  which  have  been  so  conspicuously 
lacking  in  South  Africa,  converted  a  French- 
speaking  Roman  Catholic  province,  steeped  in 
sedition  and  seething  with  rebellious  discontent, 
into  one  of  the  most  devoted  Colonies  of  the 


48 


The  Americamsaiion  of  the   World. 


Empire.  The  secret  is  simple.  We  left  them 
alone,  allowing  them  to  do  for  themseves  as 
they  thought  best.  But  even  now  the  appoint- 
ment of  such  a  Governor-General  as  Lord 
Milner  would  drive  the  whole  of  Quebec  wild 
with  alarm  and  suspicion.  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier, 
the  Liberal  Prime  Minister  of  the  Dominion,  has 
never  lost  a  chance  of  emphasising  the  fact  that 
Canada  is  not  only  a  Colony  and  a  Dominion  ; 
Canada,  he  says,  is  a  nation,  and,  as  such,  claims 
the  rights  of  nationhood. 

How  sensitive  and  easily  jarred  are  the  nerves 
of  our  Canadian  fellow-subjects  may  be  seen 
from  the  storm  of  dissatisfaction  which  has  been 
occasioned  by  the  disrespect  showed  to  the 
French  language  by  the  Duke  of  Cornwall,  who 
of  course  acted  on  the  advice  of  Lord  Minto. 
Why  the  genius  of  discord  should  have  been 
allowed  to  mar  the  loyal  festivals  that  attended 
the  Royal  tour  no  one  but  the  Governor-General 
can  tell.  But  the  refusal  to  allow  the  Heir  to 
the  Crown  to  reply  in  French  to  loyal  French 
addresses  seems  to  savour  of  the  arrogant  and 
intolerant  spirit  which  has  of  late  poisoned  the 
atmosphere  of  the  Colonial  Office.  Taken  to- 
gether with  other  incidents,  some  of  which  were, 
perhaps  unavoidable,  this  sHght  to  their  language 
has  led  to  protests  which  somewhat  beclouded 
the  closing  scene  of  the  Royal  tour.  The 
Canadians  are  very  loyal,  but  we  cannot  pre- 
sume upon  their  loyalty.  As  the  Avenir  du 
Nord,  an  influential  organ  of  the  French  at 
Montreal,  took  occasion  to  remind  the  Duke  : — ■ 

' '  The  French  and  English  people  of  Canada  greet  in 
the  Duke  of  Cornwall  and  York  the  son  of  their  sovereign, 
but  do  not  intend  thereby  to  furnish  the  Imperialists  with 
the  illusion  that  Canada  aspires  to  be  stifled  by  tighter 
and  tighter  British  ties.  The  respect  that  we  profess  in 
a  large  measure,  the  marks  of  sympathy  that  we  manifest 
— even  in  a  too  exaggerated  manner — for  the  King  of 
England  and  his  son,  will  be  changed  into  enmity  and 
energetic  struggle  if  ever  it  is  sought  to  erase  from  our 
Constitution  the  clauses  that  make  us  almost  independent, 
with  a  view  to  replace!  them  by  Imperialistic  obligations 
such  as  are  dreamed  of  by  Mr.  Chamberlain  and  a  few 
others." 

This  may  be  dismissed  as  worthy  of  no  im- 
portance because  it  is  "  only  French  talk."  So 
our  loyalists  at  the  Cape  ignored  the  protests 
and  complaints  of  the  Dutch.     Absit  omen. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  French  Canadians 
may  be  very  enthusiastic  to  be  annexed,  but 
that  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  would  be 
much  less  eager  to  welcome  Canada  within  the 
pale  of  the  Union.  What  Americans  think  on 
the  question  of  the  future  of  Canada  is  not 
difficult  to  discern.  One  and  all  would  disclaim 
any  attempt  to  annex  Canada  against  her  will ; 
but  one  and  all  regard  absorption  as  her  inevit- 
able destiny,  and  while  they  would  not  hasten 
the    hour    when    the    frontier-line    disappears. 


they  would  rejoice  to  see  the  Union  Jack  dis- 
appear from  the  Western  Continent. 

President  Roosevelt's  words  are  worth  quoting 
in  this  connection.  Before  he  was  President  or 
even  Vice-President,  he  wrote  : — "  The  inhabi- 
tants of  a  colony  are  in  a  cramped  and  unnatural 
state  ....  As  long  as  a  Canadian  remains  a 
colonist  he  remains  in  a  position  inferior  to  that 
of  his  cousins  both  in  England  and  in  the  United 
States.  The  Englishman  at  bottom  looks  down 
on  the  Canadian,  as  on  one  who  admits  his 
inferiority,  and  quite  properly,  too.  The 
American  regards  the  Canadian  with  the  good- 
natured  condescension  felt  by  the  freeman  for 
a  man  who  is  not  free." 

"  Ever}'  true  patriot,  every  man  of  statesman- 
like habit,  should  look  for^^ard  to  the  day  when 
not  a  single  Europ>ean  Power  will  hold  a  foot  of 
American  soil.  At  present  it  is  not  necessary 
to  take  the  position  that  no  European  Power 
shall  hold  American  territory;  but  it  certainly 
will  become  necessary  if  the  timid  and  selfish 
peace-at-any-price  men  have  their  way,  and  if 
the  United  States  fails  to  check,  at  the  outset, 
European  aggrandisement  on  this  continent." 

But  it  will  be  said  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  is  a 
representative  of  the  extreme  Expansionist 
school.  It  may,  therefore,  be  well  to  quote  the 
testimony  of  one  who  belongs  to  the  other 
extreme.  With  the  doubtful  exception  of  Mr. 
Atkinson,  there  is  probably  no  more  thorough- 
going anti-Expansionist  than  Mr.  Andrew 
Carnegie.  No  one  can  accuse  him  of  animosity 
to  the  land  in  which  he  was  bom,  and  in  which  he 
spends  his  summers.  He  has  passed  immune 
through  the  Jingo  fever  which  laid  so  many  of 
his  compatriots  low.  But,  upon  the  subject  of 
Canada,  Mr.  Carnegie  expressed  sentiments  even 
more  uncompromising  than  those  of  Mr.  Roose- 
velt. In  the  year  1895,  when  tartff  questions 
were  to  the  fore,  Mr.  Carnegie  came  out  strongly 
in  favour  of  imposing  heavy  duties  upon  all 
imports  from  Canada  without  regard  to  the 
doctrine  either  of  Free  Trade  or  Protection, 
but  as  a  matter  of  high  politics.  The  following 
passage  is  a  very  significant  but  perfectly  frank 
and  sincere  expression  of  the  sentiments  of  a 
great  number  of  the  friendliest  Americans  upon 
the  question  of  our  position  in  Canada : — 
"  I  think  we  betray  a  lack  of  statesmanship  in 
allowing  commercial  advantages  to  a  country 
which  owes  allegiance  to  a  foreign  Power 
founded  upon  monarchical  institutions,  which 
may  always  be  trusted  at  heart  to  detest  the 
repubHcan  idea.  If  Canada  were  free  and 
independent,  and  threw  in  her  lot  with  this 
Continent,  it  would  be  another  matter.  So 
long  as  she  remains  upon  our  flank,  a  possible 
foe,  not  upon  her  own  account,  but  subject  to 
the  orders  of  a  European  Power,  and  ready  to 


Of  Newfoundland  and  Canada. 


49 


be  called  by  that  Power  to  exert  her  forces 
against  us  even  upon  issues  that  may  not 
concern  Canada,  I  should  let  her  distinctly 
understand  that  we  view  her  as  a  menace  to  the 
peace  and  security  of  our  country,  and  I  should 
treat  her  accordingly.  She  should  not  be  in 
the  Union  and  out  of  the  Union  at  the  same 
time  if  I  could  prevent  it.  Therefore,  I  should 
tax  highly  all  her  products  entering  the  United 
States ;  and  this  I  should  do,  not  in  dislike  for 
Canada,  but  for  love  of  her,  in  the  hope  that 
it  would  cause  her  to  realise  that  the  nations 
upon  this  Continent  are  expected  to  be  European 
nations,  and  1  trust,  finally,  one  nation,  so  far 
as  the  English-speaking  portion  is  concerned. 
I  should  use  the  rod,  not  in  anger,  but  in  love ; 
but  I  should  use  it.  She  should  be  either  a 
member  of  the  Republic  or  she  should  stand 
for  her  own  self,  responsible  for  her  conduct  in 
peace  and  war,  and  she  should  not  shield  herself 
by  calling  to  her  aid  a  foreign  Power." 

I  have  quoted  the  opinions  of  President 
Roosevelt  and  Mr.  Carnegie.  To  them  I  would 
add  a  third,  much  less  distinguished,  but  not 
less  typical  man.  Mr.  W.  M.  Hazeltine,  dis- 
cussing in  1897  the  probable  policy  of  President 
McKinley,  declared  that  if  Mr.  McKinley  were 
mindful  of  the  pledge  embodied  in  the  platform 
to  which  he  subscribed,  he  would  apply  his 
influence  and  his  ability  in  all  lawful  ways  to 
further  the  movement  for  the  voluntary  incor- 
poration of  Canada  with  the  Republic  : — "  He 
may  not  hold  that  extension  of  territory  is 
desirable  for  its  own  sake,  but  he  cannot  but 
recognise  that  in  the  case  of  Canada  there  would 
be  also  an  extension  of  market,  ^nd  an  exten- 
sion of  the  field  of  American  investments  over 
Canadian  mines  and  enterprises.  Nor  can  he 
shut  his  eyes  to  the  fact— that  the  annexation  of 
the  Dominion  of  Canada  would  mean  the  final 
exclusion  of  war,  with  all  its  burdens  and 
horrors,  from  this  Continent,  and  the  secure 
dedication  of  North  America  to  industry  and 
peace.'' 

Mr.  Hazeltine's  expectations  were  not  fulfilled. 
President  McKinley  did  nothing  to  promote 
the  incorporation  of  Canada  with  the  United 
States,  and  on  the  whole  it  was  probably  just 
as  well.  American  sentiment  was  slightly,  very 
slightly,  ruffled  by  the  outbreak  of  Jingoism 
across  the  border,  and  some  observations  were 
let  fall  which  showed  that  American  opinion 
might  take  alarm  if  the  Dominion  were  to  be 
permanently  inoculated  with  the  spirit  of  mili- 
tant Imperialism.  Of  that,  however,  there  is 
little  danger.  At  the  same  time  it  would 
not  be  wise  to  ignore  the  fact  that  Canada's 
growing  sense  of  nationhood,  and  our  sense  of 
the  obligations  under  which  we  lie  to  the 
Dominion  for  the  help  it  rendered  to  us  in  the 


South  African  war,  will  not  tend  altogether  to 
facilitate  the  negotiations  which  are  about  to 
be  resumed  for  the  settlement  of  the  few  out- 
standing questions  which  still  remain  to  be 
settled. 

The  permanent  factor  which  always  occa- 
sions irritation  on  the  part  of  the  Americans 
is  the  fact  that  they  can  neither  deal  with 
Canada  alone  nor  with  Great  Britain  alone. 
The  influence  of  the  British  Government  is 
almost  invariably  exercised  in  favour  of  a  com- 
promise. The  Canadians  are,  however,  very 
stiff  at  a  bargain,  and  are  very  quick  to  declare 
that  their  interests  are  being  betrayed  by  the 
mother-country  if  we  do  not  back  them  up  to 
the  uttermost  in  the  claims  which  they  make 
upon  the  American  Government.  Americans, 
it  may  be  quite  erroneously,  are  of  opinion  that 
if  Great  Britain  were  out  of  the  way  and  they 
had  to  deal  with  Canada  alone  they  would  very 
soon  come  to  terms,  but  they  resent  the  Spenlow 
and  Jerkins  arrangement  by  which  one  of  the 
partners  always  takes  shelter  behind  the  other. 
Canada,  however,  absolutely  refuses  to  be  left 
out  of  the  negotiation  of  questions  which 
primarily  concern  her  own  interests.  Upon 
this  subject  Mr.  Carnegie,  writing  in  the  Con- 
temporary Review  m.  November  1897,  said  :— 

Ambassador  Pauncefote  and  Secretary  of  State  Blaine, 
years  ago,  agreed  upon  a  settlement  of  the  Behring  Sea 
question,  and  Lord  Salisbury  telegraphed  his  congratula- 
tions, through  Sir  Julian  Pauncefote,  to  Mr.  Blaine. 
The  two  nations  were  jointly  to  police  the  seas  and  stop 
the  barbarous  destruction  of  the  female  seals.  Canada 
appeared  at  Washington  and  demanded  to  see  the 
President  of  the  United  States  upon  the  subject.  Audi- 
ence was  denied  to  the  presumptuous  colony  ;  neverthe- 
less, her  action  forced  Lord  Salisbuiy  to  disavow  the 
treaty.  No  confidence  here  is  violated,  as  President 
Harrison  referred  to  the  subject  in  a  message  to  Con- 
gress. Britain  was  informed  that  if  she  presumed  to 
make  treaties  in  which  Canada  was  interested  without 
her  consent,  she  would  not  have  Canada  very  long.  It 
will  be  remembered  that  Canada  took  precisely  the 
same  position  in  regard  to  international  copyright.  It  is 
this  long-desired  treaty -making  power  which  Canada  has 
recently  acquired  for  herself,  at  least  as  far  as  concerns 
fiscal  policy,  so  that  she  need  no  longer  even  consult  her 
suzerain.  She  can  now  appear  at  Washington,  and 
insist  up3n  being  received  when  new  tariff  measures  are 
desired,  having  suddenly  become  a  "free  nation," 
according  to  her  Prime  Minister.  There  are  surptites  in 
store  here  for  the  indulgent  mother. 

Our  permanent  difficulty,  that  of  inducing  the 
Canadians  to  accept  what  we  consider  a  legiti- 
mate compromise,  but  what  they  are  apt  to 
regard  as  an  indefensible  sacrifice  of  their  vital 
interests,  will  certainly  not  have  been  diminished 
by  recent  events.  The  Canadians  will  feel  and 
say  that  they  did  not  storm  Paardeberg  in 
order  that  Great  Britain  should  give  away  their 
right  to  Skagway,  or  their  fishery  monopoly,  for 
imperial  considerations  in  which  they  have  very 
remote  interest.     If  we  insist  they  will  sulk,  and 

E 


50 


The  Americanisation  of  the   World. 


Mr.  Carnegie's  foreboding  prophecy  may  be 
realised.  There  will  be  no  rupture,  but  the 
silken  tie  will  be  strained,  and  in  proportion 
as  it  is  weakened  the  pull  of  the  economic  forces 
making  for  union  will  be  increased. 

The  Canadians  are  at  present  smarting  under 
a  severe  disappointment.  The  party  in  power, 
after  having  for  some  years  fostered  emigration 
and  developed  trade  relations  with  the  mother 
country,  confidently  expected  that  the  census 
would  reveal  a  great  increase  in  the  population. 
In  1891  the  census  figures  were  4,823,875.  In 
1 901  it  was  hoped  that  they  would  report  a 
population  of  6,000,000.  Imagine  the  dismay 
occasioned  by  the  discovery  that  there  were 
only  5,338,833  residents  in  the  Dominion. 
The  whole  Dominion  in  ten  years  has  only 
added  to  its  population  about  the  same  number 
of  citizens  as  were  added  in  the  same  period  to 
the  single  State  of  Minnesota.  Of  the  513,000 
added  to  the  population  of  Canada,  306,000 
are  to  be  found  west  of  Ontario.  The  popu- 
lation of  Ontario  itself  is  virtually  stationary,  an 
increase  of  2  per  cent,  being  neither  here  nor 
there. 

Professor  Henry  Davies,  of  Yale  University, 
recently  summed  up  his  conclusions  arrived  at 
after  an  interviewing  tour  in  the  Dominion  as 
follows : — 

"  Much  of  Canada's  stagnation  is  due  to  the 
inability  of  her  leading  men  to  see  that  the 
great  assimilating  power  on  this  hemisphere 
is  American,  and  not  English.  This  the  people 
have  already  begun  to  learn.  England  has 
practically  capitulated,  so  far  as  Canada  is  con- 
cerned, as  recent  futile  parleyings  have  shown. 
The  situation,  therefore,  wants  nothing  but 
better  trade  relations  with  this  country  to  perfect 
conquest." 

What  is  to  be  hoped  for  is  that,  when  the 
inevitable  union  takes  place,  it  will  be  brought 
about  with  the  hearty  consent  and  concurrence 
of  the  mother-country,  even  if  the  mother- 
country  herself  does  not  set  the  example  to 
Canada  by  taking  the  initiative  in  promoting  that 
race  alliance  towards  which  everything  seems  to 
point.  Should  such  an  union  take  place  it  is 
probable  there  would  be  considerable  simplifica- 
tion of  the  somewhat  complex  arrangements 
now  existing  in  the  Canadian  Dominion. 
Decentralisation  and  Home  Rule  are  very  good 
things,  but  they  may  be  carried  too  far,  and 
eight  separate  Parliaments  with  eight  separate 
executives  seem  a  somewhat  excessive  allow- 
ance for  a  population  that  is  not  much  in  excess 
of  the  population  of  Greater  London. 

Although  both  the  American  and  Canadian 
constitutions  are  based  upon  the  federal  prin- 
ciple, there  is  considerable  difference  in  the  way 
in  which  this  principle  is  applied.     In  the  United 


States  the  federal  power  is  strictly  defined.  The 
Congress  at  Washington  has  no  power  to  legislate 
except  on  certain  specified  subjects.  All  others 
not  specially  reserved  for  the  central  power  are 
left  to  be  dealt  with  according  to  the  sovereign 
will  of  each  of  the  federated  states.  In  Canada 
the  problem  is  approached  from  the  other  end. 
The  powers  of  the  provincial  parliaments  are 
strictly  defined,  while  the  undefined  residue  is 
left  to  the  Parliament  of  the  Dominion.  The 
Canadian  judiciary  is  federal  throughout  the 
whole  Dominion,  and  the  judges  are  not  elective. 
In  the  United  States  the  judiciary  is  both  federal 
and  local,  and  the  local  judges  are  elected  by 
popular  vote.  Laws  of  banking,  of  commerce, 
and  of  marriage  are  federal  in  the  Dominion, 
and  are  left  to  the  States  in  the  Republic.  It 
is  extremely  difficult  to  amend  the  American 
Constitution,  whereas  the  Canadian  Constitution 
can  be  amended  without  much  difficulty.  When 
there  is  a  dispute  between  the  local  authorities 
or  between  the  provincial  governments  and  the 
Federal  Government,  there  is  an  appeal  in  the 
last  instance  to  the  Judicial  Committee  of  the 
Privy  Council  in  London.  In  the  United  States 
the  Supreme  Court  at  Washington  is  the  final 
authority. 

In  many  respects  the  Canadian  administration, 
especially  that  part  which  concerns  the  welfare 
of  Indians,  compares  favourably  with  that  of 
the  United  States.  The  contrast  between  the 
administration  of  justice  in  mining  districts  in 
Canada  and  in  the  United  States  has  frequently 
been  commented  upon  by  the  Americans  them- 
selves. There  is  none  of  the  free  shooting  in 
the  Canadian  mining  camps  which  used  to  be  so 
characteristic  of  California.  The  same  men 
who  were  ready  to  shoot  at  sight  in  Denver  and 
Colorado  no  sooner  crossed  the  49th  parallel 
of  latitude  than  they  recognised  that  free 
shooting  was  contrary  to  the  law  of  the  land, 
and  that  no  one  had  a  pull  which  was  good  for 
anything  with  the  Canadian  justices. 

These  questions  of  detail,  although  interesting 
and  important,  are  not  vital,  except  in  so  far  as 
they  tend  to  show  that  if  the  Dominion  and  the 
RepubHc  are  ever  to  be  merged  in  one  greater 
union,  both  parties  to  the  marriage  will  bring 
an  ample  dower,  both  moral  and  material,  to 
the  common  stock. 

It  is  not  impossible  that  the  Nemesis  which 
follows  the  South  African  war  may  tend  to 
operate  against  the  unity  of  the  Empire. 
The  Canadians,  especially  those  who  served  in 
Strathcona's  Horse,  did  not  carry  back  with  them 
to  Canada  a  very  high  appreciation  of  the 
military  genius  of  the  British  officer  or  the 
organising  capacity  of  the  British  War  Office. 
Like  all  the  Colonials  engaged  in  this  war,  they 
felt  themselves  to  be  far  and  away  better  men 


Of  Newfoundland  and  Canada. 


51 


than  the  Regulars  whom  they  were  sent  to 
assist.  Some  of  them  came  home  convinced 
that  the  Boers  were  in  the  right,  and  that 
England  had  enlisted  their  services  in  a  bad 
cause.  They  said  nothing,  but  waited.  *They 
are  waiting  still.  The  spectacle  which  the 
British  Army  offers  to  the  Empire  to-day  is  not 
conducive  to  the  development  of  Imperial  pride. 
The  Colonists  were  willing  enough  to  help  the 
mother  country  out  of  a  temporary  scrape,  it 
being  understood  that  the  said  mother  country 
was  still  a  going  concern,  that  dry  rot  had  not 
sapped  her  strength,  that  her  statesmen  were 
not  dotards,  and  her  administrators  amateur 
dilletanti,  and  that,  in  short,  there  was  honour 
and  glory  in  being  connected  with  what  was 
believed  to  be  the  greatest,  the  wisest,  the 
strongest  of  the  Empires  of  the  world. 

But  with  the  whole  British  army  lying 
foundered  month  after  month  in  South  Africa, 
what  are  they  to  think  of  it  ?  Has  the  mother 
country  then  become  only  a  toothless  old 
granddame,  whose  faculties  have  all  gone  to  fat, 
and  who  has  neither  the  wit  to  make  peace  nor 
the  skill  to  make  war?  They  do  not  say 
so  as  yet ;  nay,  they  are  even  preparing  to  send 
out  another  contingent  to  her  assistance,  but 
some  such  conviction  may  be  forcing  its  way 
home  to  the  Colonial  mind.  How  much  longer 
is  it  to  last  ?  And  if  Britannia  is  in  her  dotage, 
if  her  people  are  decadent,  and  if  a  piano  and 
cook-stove  mobility  is  all  that  her  officers  are 
capable  of,  then  how  long  will  it  be  before  the 
cry,  "  To  your  tents,  O  Israel,"  or  its  modern 
equivalent,  "Hail,  Columbia,"  is  raited  in  the 
Dominion  ?  It  is  a  question  of  considerable 
interest  just  now  to  many  people,  of  whom  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt  is  not  the  most  considerable. 


Chapter  VII.— Of  Australia. 

One  of  the  great  events  of  the  year  1901 
was  the  opening  of  the  first  Parliament  of  the 
Australian  Commonwealth  by  the  heir  to  the 
British  Crown.  The  event  was  hailed  with 
immense  enthusiasm  throughout  the  Empire,  as 
a  public  ceremonial  demonstration  of  the  close- 
ness of  the  tie  which  binds  the  island  continent 
of  the  Southern  Seas  to  the  motheriand  of  the 
race.  It  may  seem,  therefore,  singularly  out 
of  place  to  discuss  at  such  a  time  the  question 
whether  even  at  the  Antipodes  the  pull  of  the 
American  Republic  will  be  felt  by  the  Austra- 
lian Commonwealth.  It  must  be  admitted,  of 
course,  that  the  force  of  gravitation  diminishes 
according  to  the  distance  at  which  it  is  exercised, 
and  Australia  is  by  no  means  subject  to  the 
same  continuous  temptation  to  throw  in  her  lot 


with  the  Americans  to  which  the  West  India 
Islands  and  the  Canadians  are  subject.  Never- 
theless, even  in  this  first  year  a  good  many  things 
have  happened  to  give  us  caus^  to  think,  if  not 
furiously,  at  least  seriously,  as  to  whether  the 
net  effect  of  the  Federation  of  the  Australian 
Colonies  will  tend  so  much  to  the  consolidation 
of  the  Empire  as  we  all  wish  to  believe. 

To  begin  with,  the  very  first  result  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  Australian  Commonwealth 
has  been  to  put  up  a  tariflf  wall  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  independent  sister  nation  at  the 
Antipodes  that  is  more  of  a  barrier  than  a  bond 
of  union.  To  take  only  a  small  illustration  of 
this.  The  Australasian  Rcinna  of  Rcriavs, 
which  was  founded  in  the  interests  of  the 
Empire,  and  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the 
Union  of  the  English-speaking  peoples,  is  an 
off-shoot  of  the  parent  Rcineiv  of  Rcvieivs.  .  At 
least  half  of  the  contents  of  each  numoer  are 
printed  from  proofs  sent  from  London.  The 
immediate  effect  of  the  new  tariff  has  been  to 
increase  the  cost  of  the  production  of  the 
Australasian  Rnnciv  of  Rcvinus.  A  10  per 
cent,  duty  has  been  imposed  upon  paper,  and 
25  per  cent,  upon  the  ink  with  which  it  is 
printed,  All  magazines  printed  in  the  mother- 
country  and  exported  ready-made  to  Australia 
must  pay  a  duty.  It  is  a  very  small  matter, 
but  it  illustrates  the  point  that  the  new  order 
of  things  at  the  Antipodes  has  had  some 
results  not  altogether  promoting  the  realisa- 
tion of  the  King's  ideal  that  Australia  should 
be  regarded  as  as  much  part  and  parcel  of  the 
United  Kingdom  as  Kent  or  Sussex.  In 
framing  the  Australian  tarilT,  the  Government 
refused  absolutely  to  follow  the  example  of 
Canada.  No  preference  whatever  has  been 
.  allowed  to  British  goods. 

The  Germans  and  the  Americans,  who  bear 
none  of  the  expense  and  undertake  none  of  the 
responsibility  for  defending  Australia,  are  as 
free  to  send  in  their  goods  as  the  British  tax- 
payer who  has  to  bear  the  whole  burden  of 
Imperial  defence.  I  am  not  complaining  of 
this,  only  mentioning  it  as  an  indication  that  the 
Australian  Commonwealth  has  shown  no  sym- 
pathy with  those  Imperialists  who  think  that 
the  unity  of  the  Empire  can  best  be  attained 
and  maintained  by  an  Imperial  ZoUverein. 

Not  only  have  the  Australians  imposed  new 
taxes  upon  British  goods,  but  their  attitude  on 
the  question  of  the  appeals  to  the  Privy  Council 
showed  a  sensitive  jealousy  in  relation  to  the 
mother-country.  Mr.  Chaml)er!ain,  in  the  very 
heyday  of  his  popularity,  found  himself  pulled 
up  sharply  by  the  refusal  of  the  Australians  to 
accept  any  settlement  of  the  question  of  the 
Court  of  final  appeal  except  the  one  which  they 
liked.      Right    or    wrong,    they   insisted    upon 

E  2 


rhpto^aph  hy\    EXHIBITION  BUILDINGS,  MELBOURNE,  WHERE  THE  FIRST  FEDERAL    f^'  "'•  ^'''^'^-  -^l-frdem. 

PARLIAMENT  ASSEMBLED. 


THE    AUSTRALIAN    COMMONWEALTH. 


Of  Australia. 


53 


having  their  own  way,  and,  as  usual,  they  got  it. 
There  is  now  no  right  of  appeal  to  the  Privy 
Council  or  to  any  English  Court  for  the  decision 
of  any  questions  as  to  the  interpretation  of  the 
Constitution  or  of  the  merits  of  conflicting  claims 
of  the  separate  States,  unless  the  Australian  High 
Court  itself  should  certify  that  the  question 
should  be  determined  by  the  Privy  Council. 
At  the  same  time  any  appellant  can  appeal  from 
the  State  Court  direct  to  the  Privy  Council, 
without  going  through  the  Federal  High  Court 
— a  provision  which  we  owe  to  the  wisdom  of 
Mr.  Chamberlain,  and  which  will  almost  cer- 
tainly result  in  conflicting  decisions  upon  points 
of  law.  In  the  main,  however,  the  Australians 
carried  their  point,  and  barred  any  appeal  from 
the  decision  of  their  own  High  Court  excepting 
by  permission  of  that  High  Court  itself. 

A  third  point  which  is  worth  remembering 
and  discussing  in  the  question  of  the  possible 
merging  of  Australia  into  the  greater  federation 
of  all  the  English-speaking  peoples,  is  the  fact 
that  in  framing  the  Australian  Commonwealth 
the  Australians  on  one  vital  principle  elected  to 
follow  the  example  of  the  United  States  rather 
than  that  of  ^e  Canadian  Dominion.  In 
Canada,  it  has  already  been  stated,  the  Cana- 
dians defined  the  powers  of  the  Provincial 
Assemblies  and  left  all  other  powers  to  the 
Federal  Parliament.  In  Australia  they  followed 
the  American  precedent.  As  Sir  John  Cockburn 
told  the  International  Commercial  Congress 
that  met  at  Philadelphia  in  October,  1899,  the 
United  States  Constitution  for  the  last  ten  years 
had  been  well-thumbed  and  well-read  in 
the  Australian  Colonies.  "  Our  problem,"  he 
said,  "  has  been  throughout  almost  identical  with 
yours " ;  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  he  should 
go  on  to  say :  "  In  the  fundamental  characteristic 
of  our  constitution  we  have  followed  the  example 
of  the  United  States,  and  have  placed  only 
enumerated  powers  in  the  hands  of  the  Federal 
authority,  reserving  all  unenumerated  powers 
for  the  State.  Our  cardinal  condition  is  that 
only  enumerated  powers  are  placed  in  the 
hands  of  Federal  authority." 

Those  enumerated  powers  differ  somewhat 
from  those  of  the  United  States,  in  that  the 
questions  of  marriage  and  divorce  are  reserved 
for  the  Federal  Parliament,  whereas  in  America 
each  State  has  its  own  law  of  marriage  and 
divorce.  On  the  other  hand,  they  followed  the 
American  example  in  calling  the  two  Houses  of 
the  Federal  Legislature,  the  Senate  and  the 
House  of  Representatives ;  and,  as  is  the  case 
in  the  United  States,  each  State  enjoys  equally 
inalienable  rights  of  representation  in  the  Senate, 
no  matter  whether  its  population  be  large  or 
small,  and  no  matter  whether  its  area  be  exten- 
sive or  limited.     They  have,  however,  departed 


from  the  American  precedent  by  constituting 
the  Senate  by  direct  election,  and  also  by 
making  it  easier  to  amend  the  Constitution.  A 
constitutional  amendment  in  Australia  must 
first  be  passed  by  an  absolute  majority  of  both 
Houses  in  the  Federal  Parliament,  or  by  one 
House  on  two  occasions  if  rejected  by  the 
other.  The  amendment  has  then  to  be  referred 
to  the  people  of  the  several  States,  and  a  double 
majority,  of  States  and  of  people,  is  necessary 
before  the  amendment  takes  effect.  It  is  prob- 
able that  if  a  plebiscite  of  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States  could  be  taken  to-day,  the 
majority  would  declare  in  favour  of  thus  modify- 
ing their  own  constitution.  Except  these  three 
points,  namely,  a  Federal  law  for  marriage  and 
divorce,  direct  election  of  senators,  and  greater 
elasticity  in  readjusting  the  provisions  of  the 
altered  needs  to  the  new  time,  the  Australian 
Constitution  does  not  much  differ  from  the 
American. 

Australia  is  following  in  the  steps  of  the 
United  States  in  other  matters  besides  the 
fashioning  of  its  Constitution.  The  new 
Parliament  is  not  yet  a  year  old,  but  it  has 
already  formulated  a  demand  pregnant  with 
great  consequences  for  the  adoption  of  a 
Monroe  doctrine  for  the  Pacific.  The  question 
arose  in  the  debate  upon  a  New  Guinea  Pro- 
tectorate, and  the  demand  that  the  Australian 
Government  should  press  for  the  adoption  by 
the  Empire  of  a  Monroe  doctrine  for  the  Pacific 
met  with  unanimous  support.  The  Prime 
Minister  undertook  to  carry  out  the  wishes  of 
representatives  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  thus 
at  a  bound  Australia  has  leapt  into  the  inter- 
national area,  with  a  demand,  avowedly 
fashioned  upon  the  American  precedent,  which 
will  be  regarded  as  a  direct  challenge  by  all  the 
States  which  have  possessions  in  the  Pacific. 
The  policy  may  be  right  or  it  may  be  wrong ;  but 
it  has  at  least  the  excellent  quality  of  precision. 
It  is  an  unmistakable  proclamation  on  the  part 
of  the  new  Commonwealth  that  no  European  or 
Asiatic  Power  is  to  be  allowed  to  extend  its 
dominions  in  the  Pacific  Ocean.  It  does  not 
yet  appear  whether  the  doctrine  is  to  be  ex- 
panded so  far  as  to  include  the  United  States  of 
America.     Probably  not.*     Neither  is  it  quite 

*  In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  remember  that 
Senator  Proctor  suggested  some  two  or  three  years  ago 
that  in  Asia,  Britain  and  the  United  States  should  replace 
the  waning  (mperialism  of  old  Rome  by  a  new  Imperialism 
destined  to  carry  the  world-wide  principles  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  peace  and  justice,  liberty  and  law.  The  measures 
which  he  suggested  as  necessary  to  achieve  this  end  are 
the  following : — 

(I)  A  Treaty  of  Arbitration  which  all  nations  should 
be  invited  to  join,  but  which  in  the  first  case  should  be 
negotiated  between  the  United  States,  Great  Britain  and 
Holland. 


54 


The  A7nericanisation  of  the  World. 


clear  from  the  brief  telegram  which  is  all  that 
has  yet  reached  this  country,  what  are  the 
limits  of  the  area  within  which  the  Australian 
Monroe  doctrine  is  to  apply.  As  the  demand 
arose  out  of  a  debate  on  the  question  of  New 
Guinea,  it  is  probable  that  the  area  covered  by 
this  new  interdict  includes  all  the  islands  on 
this  side  of  the  Straits  of  Malacca,  even  if  it 
does  not  also  include  the  great  island  of 
Sumatra,  where  the  Dutch  for  many  years  past 
have  been  at  war  with  the  Atchinese. 

Following  the  precedent  of  the  Monroe 
doctrine,  there  will  be  no  immediate  demand 
that  the  Powers  which  have  already  seated  them- 
selves on  the  islands  in  the  seas  adjacent  to 
Australia  should  haul  down  their  flags  and  depart, 
for  which  mercy  we  may  well  express  our  thanks. 
But  as  there  is  a  tendency  among  the  Americans 
to  expand  the  Monroe  doctrine  so  far  as  to 
convert  it  into  a  reserved  notice  to  quit  to  all 
European  Powers  whose  flags  are  temporarily 
tolerated  in  the  New  World,  so  we  may  be 
pretty  certain  that  the  Australian  Monroeists,  if 
encouraged,  will  intimate  pretty  plainly  that  the 
presence  of  the  Dutch  in  Java  and  Sumatra,  the 
Germans  in  New  Guinea  and  Samoa,  and  the 
French  in  New  Caledonia  and  Tahiti,  is  only 
tolerated  during  good  behaviour,  and  that  any 
manifestation  of  a  desire  on  their  part  to  extend 
the  area  of  their  territories  will  be  held  to  be 
good  and  sufficient  reason  for  bundling  them  out 
bag  and  baggage  over  the  seas  which  are  now 
ear-marked  and  exclusively  reserved  for  Austra- 
lians or  at  least  for  English-speaking  men. 

What  the  European  Powers  will  think  of  this, 
it  is  easy  to  imagine.  The  "  Spectator,"  some 
time  ago,  intimated,  not  obscurely,  that  nothing 
was  more  likely  than  that  the  Australians,  casting 
covetous  eyes  on  Java,  would  endeavour  to  eject 
the  Dutch  ;  but  although  there  are  no  limits  to 
the  fantasies  of  the  "  Spectator,"  there  are  some 
limits  to  the  resources  of  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment. 

Of  course,  any  attempt  to  enforce  the  Aus- 
tralian Monroe  doctrine  for  the  Pacific  would 
be  futile  unless  the  Australians  could  wield,  not 
only  the  small  squadron  which  they  maintain 
in  Australian  waters,  but  the  war. fleets  of  the 


(2)  That  those  nations  should  count  coal  as  much 
contraband  of  war  as  gunpowrter. 

(3)  All  countries  acquired  by  the  United  States  should 
be  thrown  open  to  the  commerce  of  the  world  on  equal 
terms. 

(4)  The  United  States,  Great  Britain  and  Japan  should 
proclaim  a  new  Monroe  Doctrine  applicable  to  China ; 
and  CO  operate  with  that  country'  in  preventing  acquisition 
of  territoiy  there  by  European  Powers. 

(5)  The  United  States,  Great  Britain  and  the  Nether- 
lands should  proclaim  and  maintain  a  new  Monroe 
Doctrine  ppplicable  to  the  vast  islands  of  the  Indian 
Archipelago. 


Empire.  It  is  easy  to  see  what  dangers  the 
adoption  of  such  a  policy  by  the  Empire  would 
entail  upon  us  in  the  four  quarters  of  the  world. 
It  is  equally  easy  to  see  the  angry  disappoint- 
ment which  will  be  occasioned  in  Australia  if  an 
unsympathetic  answer  is  returned  from  Downing 
Street.  One  thing  is  quite  certain,  and  that  is 
that  if  the  Empire  were  to  attempt  to  put  a  ring- 
fence  round  the  unoccupied  lands  of  the  Pacific, 
it  would  in  a  very  short  time  be  compelled  ta 
undertake  the  duty  of  occupying  and  administer- 
ing them  all.  This  might  not  be  difficult  with  the 
smaller  tmappropriated  islands,  which  would  not 
pay  the  expense  of  administration,  but  it  would 
be  very  different  with  the  islands  which  lie 
between  the  Straits  of  Malacca  and  the  Gulf  of 
Carpentaria.  Sir  Julius  Vogel  long  ago  pro- 
posed to  proclaim  a  protectorate  on  behalf  of 
New  Zealand  over  all  the  Pacific  islands — a 
bold  step  which,  if  it  had  been  taken  then,  might 
have  averted  many  of  the  dangers  which  would 
have  to  be  faced  if  a  similar  policy  were  adopted 
to-da)^  Since  Sir  Julius  Vogel's  time,  Germany 
has  entered  into  the  Pacific,  and  there  will  be 
small  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  other  Powers 
to  recognise  a  mere  paper  protectorate.  For  the 
moment,  however,  we  may  dismiss  the  subject, 
merely  noting  the  fact  as  one  more  point  iri 
which  Australian  policy  is  more  in  accord  with 
that  of  the  United  States  than  that  of  the  United 
Kingdom. 

We  now  approach  the  subject  which  of  ali 
others  is  most  likely  to  strain  to  breaking  point 
the  ties  between  the  Commonwealth  and  the 
Mother  Country.  Australia  is  an  undeveloped 
continent,  the  northern  half  of  which  lies  within 
the  tropics,  that  is  to  say,  there  is  a  region  as 
large  as  the  whole  of  Europe  without  Russia, 
which  it  is  practically  impossible  to  develop 
without  coloured  labour.  Opinion  is  divided 
on  this  point.  The  colony  which  lies  within  the 
tropical  zone  speaks  with  two  voices.  The 
Queensland  delegates  in  the  Federal  Parliament 
assert  that  white  men  can  do  all  the  work  that 
is  needed  in  the  sugar  plantations,  while  the 
Queensland  Government  holds  exactly  the 
opposite  opinion,  and  maintains  that  any  inter- 
dict upon  coloured  labour  will  be  fatal  to  the 
Colony.  When  doctors  disagree,  the  people 
decide,  and  when  Queensland  herself  speaks 
with  a  double  voice,  the  uninstructed  outsider 
must  draw  his  own  conclusions.  Of  one  thing 
there  is  no  doubt,  and  that  is  that  whether  white 
men  can  or  cannot  live  and  thrive  while  per- 
forming arduous  manual  labour  under  a  tropical 
sun,  the  white  man  won't.  It  is  equally  certain 
that  the  brown  and  the  yellow  men  are  only  too 
anxious  to  have  an  opportunity  to  earn  their 
living  by  converting  the  wilderness  into  a  garden. 
There  are   more   millions    of    Indian   coohes. 


Of  Australia. 


55 


Chinese  labourers,  and  Japanese  husbandmen 
ready  to  open  up  and  develop  the  immense 
agricultural  and  mineral  resources  of  Northern 
Australia,  than  there  are  white  men  in  the  whole 
continent.  But,  agam,  following  the  example 
of  the  United  States,  the  Federal  Parliament  is 
absolutely  opposed  to  the  introduction  of  coloured 
labour.  The  cry  of  a  White  Australia  has 
carried  all  before  it,  and  the  members  have 
shown  an  almost  fanatic  zeal  in  fencing  round 
the  Island  Continent  with  a  high  wall  for  the 
exclusion  of  Chinese,  Japanese,  and  Indian 
coolies.  They  have  even  gone  the  length  of 
refusing  to  pay  a  subsidy  for  the  carriage  of 
mails  to  any  steamship  company  which  employs 
Lascars.  Mr.  Chamberlain  objected  to  any 
strong  measure  of  exclusion  against  Asiatics. 
But  he  had  no  objection  to  their  exclusion  by 
means  of  an  educational  test  which,  as  it  will  be 
administered,  many  members  of  the  Federal 
Parliament  themselves  would  find  much  difficulty 
in  passing.  In  regard  to  the  question  whether 
coloured  labour  should  be  employed,  Mr. 
Chamberlain  vetoed  this  on  the  two-fold  ground 
that  it  was  impossible  for  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment to  sanction  the  exclusion  of  the  King's 
own  subjects  from  a  British  Colony,  and  that 
such  an  interdict  might  involve  the  Imperial 
Government  in  complications  with  other  Powers, 
possibly  with  Japan. 

All  the  arguments  which  are  now  being  used 
in  America  to  secure  the  renewal  of  the  Chinese 
Exclusion  Bill  are  brought  out  and  urged  in 
order  to  lock  and  double-lock  the  door  of 
Australia  against  any  influx  of  Asiatics.  Here, 
again,  Australia  is  proclaiming  a  policy  which 
can  only  be  enforced  by  the  aid  of  the  Imperial 
fleet.  One  of  the  great  achievements  of  which 
the  civilised  Powers  were  very  proud  in  the 
Nineteenth  Century  was  the  success  with  which 
they  battered  in  the  gates  which  the  Japanese 
had  locked  and  double-locked  against  the  inva- 
sion of  Europeans.  Having  battered  down  the 
front  door  of  the  Japanese  house,  and  hailed  it 
as  a  great  triumph  of  civilisation,  the  Australians 
are  now  calling  upon  us  to  keep  the  Japanese 
from  battering  down  the  barrier  which  has  been 
built  up  to  prevent  the  ingress  of  Asiatics  into 
Australia.  Yet  in  the  latter  case  there  is 
admittedly  ample  room  to  spare  for  millions  of 
Japanese,  and  unless  their  labour  is  employed, 
vast  tracts  of  territory  exceeding  in  extent  the 
whole  of  the  area  of  the  Japanese  islands  will 
remain  practically  useless  to  mankind.  The 
Japanese  Conservatives,  whose  resistance  we 
overcame  by  the  summary  persuasion  of  our 
cannon,  could  at  least  claim  that  they  had  filled 
up  their  own  country,  and  that  there  was  no 
waste  land  for  settlers.  Such  considerations, 
however,  do  not  weigh  for  much  with  the  rulers 


of  the  new  Commonwealth-  They  have  made- 
up  their  mind  that  Australia  is  to  be  reserved 
for  white  men.  No  yellow,  brown,  or  black 
man  need  apply,  not  even  although  it  should 
be  a  demonstrable  fact  that  without  his  labour 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  square  miles  of  fertile 
land  must  remain  unreclaimed  from  the  wilder- 
ness. 

It  is  obvious  from  this  brief  survey  of  some  of 
the  points  upon  which  possible  friction  may 
arise  that  the  Australians  may  demand  from  the 
Home  Government  that  which  the  Home  Govern- 
ment cannot  concede.  The  new  Commonwealth, 
in  the  pride  of  its  youth,  will  find  it  very  difficult 
to  confine  its  enthusiasm  within  limits  necessary 
for  the  welfare  of  the  Empire. 

There  will  be  a  very  strong  party  in  the 
Commonwealth  in  favour  of  independence.  The 
Sydney  Biilldin,  a  weekly  serio-comic  journal, 
which  has  done  much  to  preach  the  gospel  of 
the  Australian  Commonwealth,  and  is  the  only 
weekly  paper  which  circulates  throughout  the 
whole  colony,  is  the  most  uncompromising 
advocate  of  Australia  for  the  Australians  that 
could  be  found  anywhere  in  the  Empire.  It 
deserves  great  credit  for  the  unflinching  in- 
trepidity with  which  it  opposed  the  South 
African  War,  but  it  has  to  be  reckoned  with  as 
a  permanent  force  against  the  maintenance  of 
the  Imperial  tie. 

Apart  from  these  political  points  on  which 
the  Australians  resemble  the  Americans,  there 
are  others  obvious  to  everyone  who  has  visited 
the  Antipodes. 

When  Mark  Twain  visited  Australia  he  found 
the  Australians  in  many  respects  exceedingly 
American.  For  instance,  in  his  "  More  Tramps 
Abroad,"  he  said  : — 

"  Sydney  has  a  population  of  400,cxx).  When  a 
stranger  from  America  steps  ashore  there,  the  first  thing 
that  strikes  him  is  that  it  is  an  I'Inglish  city  with 
American  trimmings.  Later  on,  in  Melbourne,  he  will 
find  the  American  trimmings  still  more  in  evidence. 
There  even  the  architecture  will  often  suggest  Americn. 
The  photograph  of  its  stateliest  business  street  -might  be 
passed  off  for  a  picture  of  the  finest  street  in  a  large 
American  city." 

He  did  not,  however,  see  any  need  for 
Australia  following  the  example  of  the  American 
Colonies.     He  said  : — 

"There  seems  to  be  a  party  that  would  have  Austral- 
asia cut  loose  from  the  British  Empire,  and  set  up 
housekeeping  on  her  own.  It  seems  an  unwise  idea. 
They  pomt  to  the  United  States  ;  but  it  seems  to  me 
that  the  cases  lack  a  good  deal  of  being  alike.  Australia 
governs  herself  wholly.  There  is  no  interference.  If 
our  case  had  been  the  same,  we  should  not  have  gone 
out  when  we  did.  But  the  Americans  are  welcomed  in 
.Vustralia.  One  of  the  speakers,"'  he  said,  "at  the 
Commemoration  Banquet  at  Adelaide,  the  Minister  of 
Public  Works,  was  an  American  born  and  reared  in 
\ew    Zealand.       There   is    nothing    narrow   about    the 


56 


The  Americanuation  of  the   World. 


'  province,  politcally  or  in  any  other  way  that  I  know 
of.  Sixty-four  different  religions  and  a  Yankee  Cabinet 
Minister.  No  amount  of  horse-racing  can  damn  this 
community." 

Where  the  Australians  differ  from  the  Ameri- 
cans is  in  the  absence  of  any  element  correspond- 
ing to  the  ethical  leaven  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers. 
In  the  whole  of  their  history  the  Australians 
have  never  passed  through  the  hard  experiences 
which  discipline  nations.  They  have  been  the 
spoiled  children  of  the  human  race.  War, 
pestilence  and  famine,  the  three  scourges  of 
mankind,  have  never  compelled  them  to  realise 
the  sterner  realities  of  existence.  They  have 
never  experienced  any  deeper  emotions  than 
those  engendered  by  the  vicissitudes  of  the  South 
African  War.  They  are  splendid  cricketers, 
matchless  horsemen,  and  devoted  to  all  manner 
of  sport.  Sport,  indeed,  may  be  said  to  be 
the  Australian  religion,'  and  with  them  the  chief 
end  of  man  is  to  have  a  good  time.  A  self- 
indulgent  and  undisciplined  race  which  is  sud- 
denly called  upon  to  cope  with  the  delicate 
and  dangerous  problems  of  international  policy 
is  certain  to  be  wilful,  impulsive,  impetuous, 
not  to  say  reckless  in  the  pursuit  of  its  ideals. 

The  late  Mr.  Francis  Adams,  who  for  some 
time  was  on  the  staff  of  the  Sydney  Bulletin, 
gave  a  very  sombre  account  of  the  citizens  of 
the  New  Commonwealth.     He  said : — 

"Educated  in  a  secular  manner,  even  in  the  denomi- 
national grammar  schools,  our  New  World  youth  is  a 
pure  Positivist  and  Materialist.  Religion  seems  to  him 
at  best  a  social  affair,  to  whose  inner  appeal  he  is  pro- 
foundly indifferent.  History  is  nothing  to  him,  and  all 
he  knows  or  cares  for  England  lies  in  his  resentment  and 
curiosity  concerning  London.  Sunday  is  rapidly  becom- 
ing Continental,  more  and  more  the  characteristics  of  a 
careless,  pleasure-loving  race  are  developed,  that  is 
secularly  educated.  The  true  Gallio  gets  his  own  way. 
History  is  identified  with  religion,  and  as  such  excluded 
from  the  curriculum,  so  that  the  sense  of  the  poetry  of 
the  past  and  the  solidarity  of  the  race  is  rapidly  being 
lost  to  the  young  Australian.  To  the  next  generation 
England  will  be  a  geographical  expression,  and  the 
Empire  a  myth  in  imminent  danger  of  becoming  a 
bogey." 

Mr.  D.  Christie  Murray  declared  that  the 
Australians  were  the  rowdiest  and  most  drunken 
population  in  the  world  : — 

"Parental  control,  as  we  know  it,  in  England,  has 
died  out  entirely.  There  is  no  reverence  in  the  rising 
generation,  and  the  ties  of  home  are  slight.  Age  and 
experience  count  for  little,  the  whole  country  is  filled 
with  a  feverish  and  restless  energy.  Everybody  is  in  a 
hurry  to  be  rich." 

Sir  Gavan  Duffy  eleven  years  ago,  before 
Federation  had  been  accomplished,  thus  de- 
scribed AustraUa  and  the  Australians : — 

"  There  are  six  States  which  possess  more  natural 
wealth,  wider  territory,  a  better  climate,  and  richer 
mineral  deposits  than  the  six  great  Kingdoms  in  Europe, 


where  a  new  England,  a  new  Italy,  a  new  France,  a 
new  Spain,  and  a  new  Austria  are  in  rapid  process  of 
growth,  and  are  already  occupied  by  a  picked  popula- 
tion. They  are  no  insignificant  handful  of  men — these 
Australian  colonists ;  they  are  more  numerous  than  the 
people  of  England  were  when  they  won  Magna  Charta, 
or  the  people  of  the  United  States  were  when  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  were  first  hoisted  to  the  sky — resolute, 
impatient  men,  not  unworthy  to  foUovir  such  examples 
on  adequate  occasions." 

When  the  late  Henry  George  visited  Australia, 
he  was  much  impressed  with  the  fact  that  the 
English  characteristics  of  Australians  were  only 
on  the  surface  : — 

"  It  seemed  to  me  that  in  spite  of  the  retention  of 
English  ways  and  habits,  the  Australian  type  that  is 
developing  is  nearer  to  the  American  than  to  the  British. 
The  new  country,  the  fresher,  freer  life,  the  better 
diffusion  of  wealth,  are  telling  in  the  same  way  on  the 
English  that  have  taken  root  in  Australia  as  on  the 
English  that  took  root  in  America.  There  are,  I  think, 
in  the  people,  and  especially  in  the  native-born,  evidences 
of  the  very  inventiveness,  the  same  selfrreliance  and 
push,  the  same  independence,  the  same  quickness  of 
thought  and  movement,  the  same  self-satisfaction  and 
spread-eagletiveness  as  are  supposed  to  be  characteristic 
of  our  own.  The  Australian  States  are  only  nominally 
colonies.  They  are  in  reality  in  all  things  of  practical 
importance  self-governing  Republics.  With  the  political 
connection  with  Great  Britain,  which  imder  present  con- 
ditions combines  security  with  freedom,  there  is  no 
restiveness,  neither  do  I  think  there  is  any  loyalty  more 
than  skin-deep.  The  tariff  legislation,  in  which  Great 
Britain  is  treated  as  any  other  foreign  country,  is  a  more 
substantial  declaration  of  independence  than  any  mere 
formal  declaration  could  be.  As  for  the  feeling  towards 
the  United  States,  it  is  fully  as  good  and  as  warm  as  we 
deserve.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  Australians 
would  be  quick  to  respond  to  any  proposition  from  us  for 
reciprocity.  We  could  virtually  annex  Australia,  as  we 
could  virtually  annex  Canada  and  Great  Britain  by  the 
simple  process  of  abolishing  our  tariff  and  raising  our 
revenues  by  means  not  in  themselves  corrupt. 

Henry  George's  suggestion  as  to  reciprocity 
may  bear  fruit.  President  Roosevelt  received 
from  his  predecessor  as  an  inheritance  the  adop- 
tion of  a  poUcy  of  reciprocity.  The  connection 
between  Australia  and  the  Pacific  Coast  is  very 
close.  Even  now  mails  sent  from  London  vid 
San  Francisco  reach  New  Zealand  a  fortnight 
earlier  than  mails  sent  by  any  other  route. 

The  Americans,  eager  for  new  markets,  will 
find  a  better  opening  for  their  manufactures  in 
Australia  than  in  the  Philippines.  Nor  will 
they  have  any  set-off  in  the  shape  of  military 
charges  or  cost  of  administration.  Should  the 
Australians  ever  declare  for  independence,  the 
strain  of  the  rupture  will  lead  them  naturally  to 
seek  for  support  where  it  can  be  found,  and  the 
history  and  traditions  of  the  United  States 
render  it  impossible  that  they  should  look  in 
vain  for  the  sympathy  and  support  of  the 
American  Republic. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  questions  of  the 
future  is  whether  the  Australians  of  the  future 


RT.  HON.  EDMUND  BARTON. 
The  Federal  Premier. 


RT.  HON.  C.  C.  KINGSTON  (Fr.amer  of  the  First  Tariff  Bill). 

{rhoto  by  Elliott  &>  Fry.) 


RT.  HON.  SIR  JOHN  FORREST. 

Federal  Postmastek-Generai.. 

(Photo  by  Elliott  &'  Fry'-) 


RT.    HON     R.    J.    .'■EDDON. 
Pkemier  of  New  Zealand. 


58 


The  Americanisaiion  of  the   World. 


will  speak  English  or  German.  At  present  all 
the  odds  are  in  favour  of  English,  but  the 
chance  that  the  majority  of  men  who  would 
people  Australia  at  the  end  of  the  century  may 
speak  German  and  not  English  is  greater  than 
most  English  people  have  yet  realised.  Accord- 
ing to  the  last  census  returns,  the  total  popula- 
tion of  the  Australian  Commonwealth  was  under 
four  millions,  the  exact  figures  being  3,777,212, 
or  less  than  the  population  of  London.  In  the 
previous  decade  the  total  increase  was  593,975. 
There  was  practically  no  gain  by  immigration. 
The  increase  from  that  source  was  only  5,328, 
most  if  not  all  of  whom  were  either  Japanese, 
Hindus,  or  Kanakas.  The  Australian  legis- 
lators and  journalists  have  sounded  an  alarm 
over  the  extent  to  which  the  Australian  parents 
have  adopted  as  a  rule  of  life  the  preventive 
limitation  of  the  family.  According  to  Mr. 
Coghlan's  recently  published  book  entitled  "  A 
Study  in  Statistics,"  between  1895  and  1898  the 
average  birth-rate  in  New  South  Wales  has  de- 
clined by  one-third,  and  there  are  fewer  children 
under  ten  years  of  age  in  Victoria  than  there 
were  ten  years  ago.  In  New  South  Wales  in  1885 
546,000  women  between  the  ages  of  eighteen 
and  fifty  produced  as  many  children  as  665,767 
women  of  the  same  ages  in  1898.  The  number 
of  children  born  to  wives  of  Australian  birth  is 
3  •  5  ;  in  France  it  is  3  •  4.  Thirty  years  ago  the 
average  in  Australia  was  5*31.  The  birth-rate 
has  fallen  in  the  United  Kingdom,  but  nothing 
like  to  the  same  extent. 

The  average  number  of  children  per  marriage 
in  the  United  Kingdom  was  4*36  ten  years  ago. 
In  1900  it  had  fallen  to  3*63,  a  reduction  of 
nearly  7  per  cent.  A  population  which  has 
ceased  to  increase  and  multiply,  and  has  arrived 
at  a  birth-rate  almost  identical  with  that 
which  has  for  several  years  past  arrested  the 
increase  of  population  in  France,  cannot  count 
confidently  upon  controlling  the  future  of 
the  continent  upon  the  rim  of  which  it  has 
squatted. 

Australia  in  geographical  extent  is  large 
enough  to  include  the  whole  of  the  United 
States,  with  the  exception  of  Florida  and  Alaska. 
It  is,  with  the  exception  of  Siberia,  the  one  vast 
unoccupied  habitable  expanse  left  on  the  world's 
surface.  If  the  Australians  are  ceasing  to  in- 
crease and  multiply  and  replenish  the  earth,  and 
are  confining  themselves  merely  to  keeping  up 
their  numbers  with  a  small  annual  increase,  they 
need  not  expect  to  be  able  to  monopolise  the 
possession  of  the  vast  hinterland  which  could 
afford  homes  for  the  overflow  of  Europe  for  the 
next  hundred  years. 

If  the  Australians  are  ceasing  to  breed,  the 
Germans  are  not.  For  the  last  ten  years  the 
great  development  of  manufacturing  industry  in 


Germany  has  practically  arrested  the  outflow  of 
emigrants  from  the  Fatherland.  But  the  present 
financial  crisis  in  the  German  Empire  will  turn  on 
the  tap  once  more.  Even  w^ithout  any  such  distinct 
impetus  to  emigration,  it  is  obvious  that  Central 
Europe  must  again  begin  to  pour  out  a  steady 
stream  of  her  surplus  population  for  which  there 
is  no  room  at  home.  Hitherto  the  great  stream 
of  German  emigrants  has  been  directed  to  the 
United  States  of  America.  But  there  the  Eng- 
lish-speaking people  have  got  too  much  start. 
They  are  too  numerous  and  too  powerful  for 
the  Germans  ever  to  hope  to  destroy  the  Eng- 
lish-speaking character  of  the  United  States.  It 
is  different  in  Australia.  It  is  by  no  means 
beyond  the  pale  of  possibility  that  German 
emigration,  if  directed  to  the  Aaitipodes,  might 
reach  a  quarter  of  a  million  a  year.  In  ten 
years  one-half  of  the  population  of  Australia 
would  be  of  German  origin.  If  Germans  breed 
and  Australians  will  not,  the  future  will  unquestion- 
ably lie  with  the  most  prolific  race.  Australia 
to  the  German  ofters  every  advantage  of  a  Ger- 
man colony,  and  none  of  the  disadvantages. 
Every  German  settler  is  as  free  to  take  up  land 
in  Australia  as  if  he  were  born  in  the  United 
Kingdom.  The  Germans  have  already  effected 
a  lodgment  in  the  Antipodes. 

Mr.  Sutherland,  who  contributed  to  the 
Centenuial  of  May,  1900,  an  article  on  the 
German  Villages,  declared  that  there  were  few 
Colonies  in  which  a  Continental  European 
nation  had  left  so  distinctly  its  national  and 
racial  mark.  At  that  time  there  were  from 
30,000  to  40,000  German  colonists  in  Australia. 
They  were  chiefly  to  be  found  in  South  Australia. 
For  many  miles  north  and  south  of  Port  Man- 
num  the  country  is  dotted  with  German  farms, 
and  the  farmers  are  developing  vine-growing. 
Mr.  Sutherland  says  : — 

"  The  stream  of  Gennan  emigration  to  South  Australia 
never  ceases.  It  is  not  a  matter  of  fits  and  starts ;  it  goes  on 
quietly  from  year  to  year,  and  the  proportion  of  German 
colonists  steadily  keeps  pace  with  the  growth  of  the  popu- 
lation. The  affini  y  ot  kins-hip,  religion,  and  language 
has  proved  mjre  pbv/erful  than  any  disintegrating 
influence.  At  the  present  time  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  the  flow  of  German  colonisation  is  largely  on  the 
increase.  By  the  Jast  census  it  appeared  that  the  number 
of  colonists  who  owned  Germany  as  their  birthplace  was 
almost  exactly  equal  to  the  sum  total  of  those  who  were 
born  in  all  the  other  Australian  Colonies.  Some  of  the 
finest  steamers  in  the  Australian  trade  are  now  engaged 
in  bringing  passengers  direct  from  Bremen  and  Antwerp 
to  the  chief  cities  of  Australia.  Adelaide  receives  a  large 
proportion  of  this  influx." 

The  Germans  make  good  colonists.  They 
do  not  crowd  to  the  towns  as  the  Australians 
do.  They  abide  by  the  Lutheran  religion,  and, 
although  they  cherish  their  own  language,  they 
become  good  Australian  citizens.  There  is  not 
much  probability  that  even  if  Australia  became 


Of  Atistralia. 


59 


a  German-speaking  land,  it  would  place  itself 
under  the  domination  of  the  German  Empire. 
But  at  the  present  moment,  taking  a  wide  look- 
out over  the  world,  there  seems  to  be  much 
better  chance  of  creating  a  Greater  Ciermany 
beyond  the  sea  in  Australia  than  anywhere  else 
on  the  world's  surface. 

I  have  said  nothing  in  this  chapter  about  New 
Zealand,  which  appears  to  be  developing  her 
destinies  quite  mdependently  of  Australia.  At 
present  it  would  seem  as  if  New  Zealand  had  a 
greater  attraction  for  the  United  States  than  the 
United  States  for  New  Zealand.  There  is  no 
country  in  the  world  whose  social  experiments 
are  watched  with  greater  interest  by  the  younger 
school  of  American  economists  and  politicians 
than  those  which  have  been  carried  out  by  that 
Colony.  Should  the  industrial  development  of 
the  United  States  take  a  trend  in  the  direction 
of  State  socialism,  it  is  to  the  experiments  of 
New  Zealand  that  the  American  legislators  will 
look  for  guidance  as  to  what  to  do  and  what  to 
avoid  domg.  But  whether  the  attraction  is 
exercised  by  New  Zealand  upon  the  United 
States  or  by  the  United  States  upon  New  Zea- 
land, it  cannot  fail  to  unite  the  two  countries 
more  closely  together  by  ties  of  common  interest, 
although  there  is  little  trace  of  American 
influence  in  New  Zealand  at  present. 

Writing  on  the  question  of  the  future  relations 
of  the  United  States  and  New  Zealand  in  the 
Nitietcaith  Century  in  1890,  Mr.  Bakewell,  a  very 
intelligent  resident  in  Auckland,  New  Zealand, 
expressed  an  emphatic  opinion  as  to  the  readiness 
of  the  New  Zealanders  at  that  time  to  transfer 
their  allegiance  from  the  British  Empire  to  the 
United  States  of  America.     He  said  : — 

"If  Australia  became  independent,  Canada  would 
follow  suit,  and  the  probibility  is  that  a  great  federation 
of  English-speaking  Republics  would  be  formed,  includ- 
ing the  United  Slates.  In  that  case  New  Zealand  would 
join  as  a  separate  State,  as  Texas  did.  If  the  question 
of  annexation  as  a  State  to  the  United  States  of  North 
America  were  put  to  the  vote  tomorrow,  there  woiild 
not  be  a  thousand  votes  against  it." 

That  was  eleven  years  ago.  Mr.  Bakewell 
would  not  repeat  it  to-day.  In  1890  there  was 
very  little  Imperial  feeling  in  New  Zealand. 
Loyalty  was  chiefly  confined  to  those  colonists 
who  were  British-born.  The  younger  generation 
sat  very  loosely  to  the  Empire. 

"  If  you  want  to  keep  us  from  Republicanism,"  said 
Mr.  Bakewell,  "you  must  let  us  see  something  of 
Royalty." 

The  hint  has  been  taken,  and  the  recent  tour 
of  the  Uuke  and  Duchess  of  Cornwall  and  York 
has  been  exploited  to  the  uttermost  in  the 
interests  of  the  Empire.  Nevertheless,  there  is 
no  more  independent  community  on  the  world's 
surface  than  New  Zealand,  nor  any  which  would 


more  angrily  resent  any  attempt  to  cross  its  will. 
It  is  impossible  to  rei)ress  a  somewhat  sardonic 
smile  at  the  thouglit  of  Mr.  Seddon  beating  the 
war-drum  and  sending  forth  contingent  after 
contingent  of  New  Zealand  youth  in  order  to 
suppress  the  independence  of  the  South  African 
Republics,  when  everyone  knows  perfectly  well 
tliat  lie  and  all  the  New  Zealanders  would  have 
rushed  to  arms  long  before  if  Mr.  Chamberlain 
had  interfered  one-tenth  as  much  with  the  inter- 
nal afiairs  of  New  Zealand  as  he  did  with  those 
of  the  Transvaal.  President  Kruger  was  a  much 
less  indei^endent  potentate  than  Mr.  Seddon  ; 
and  New  Zealand  as  an  "  independent  sister 
nation  "  is  much  more  independent  of  controi 
from  Downing  Street  than  the  Transvaal  would 
be  if  its  independence  were  restored  to-morrow, 
with  such  treaty  limitations  as  even  President 
Kruger  is  now  willing  to  accept. 


Chapter  VIII. — A  Crucible  of  Nations. 

The  United  States  of  America  owes  no  small 
portion  of  its  exuberant  energies  to  the  fact 
that  there  has  poured  into  that  Continent  for 
the  last  fifty  years  a  never-ceasing  flood  of 
emigrants  recruited  for  the  most  part  from  the 
more  energetic,  enterprising  and  adventurous- 
members  of  the  Old  World.  The  United 
States  has  taken  the  place  of  the  United 
Kingdom  as  the  natural  refuge  of  the  political 
refugee.  There  is  not  a  country  in  Europe 
which  has  not  contributed  of  its  best  tcv 
build  up  the  American  people.  The  tradition 
of  the  Mayflower  has  been  maintained  to- 
this  day.  It  is  true  that  most  of  those  who 
have  migrated  to  the  United  States  have  not 
gone  thither  to  seek  freedom  to  worship  God  so 
much  as  to  seek  opportunity  to  earn  a  decent 
livelihood ;  but  there  has  never  failed  a  goodly 
proportion  of  those  who  were  driven  from  the 
Old  World  by  the  lash  of  the  persecutor.  But 
whether  they  have  emigrated  for  conscience' 
sake,  or  whether  they  came  in  search  of  filthy 
lucre,  they  have  always  been  above  the 
average.  Sometimes  the  motive  which  drove 
them  westward  has  been  a  desire  to  escape 
from  justice  or  to  evade  the  obligations  of 
citizenship;  but  whether  the  motive  in  itself 
was  respectable  or  disreputable,  the  fact  that  it 
sufficed  to  transfer  so  many  human  bodies  across 
3000  miles  of  ocean  to  new  homes  in  a  new 
world  showed  at  least  that  the  souls  which  gave 
mobility  to  these  human  bodies  were  capable  of 
taking  risks,  of  facing  the  unknown,  and  of 
submitting  to  the  sacrifice  entailed  by  severance 
from  the  environment  of  their  childhood. 

In    other   words,    the    nineteen    millions    of 


6o 


The  Americanisation  of  the   World. 


emigrants  who  have  crossed  the  Atlantic  in  this 
century  to  find  homes  in  the  United  States,  have 
been  men  of  faith.  They  believed  in  themselves  ; 
they  believed  in  the  future  ;  and,  although  it  was 
only  in  a  material  sense,  they  sought  a  better 
city  than  that  into  which  they  had  been  born ; 
they  were  masters  of  their  destiny.  The  crowded 
millions  of  the  Old  World  who  are  bom  and 
live  and  die  in  the  district  in  which  they  happen 
to  be  born  represent  the  vis  itierticz  of  Europe. 
The  nineteen  millions  who  crossed  the  Atlantic 
represent  its  aspirations  and  its  energy.  Many 
of  them,  no  doubt,  were  driven  westward  by 
the  scourge  of  starvation.  But  many  milhcns, 
who  suffered  as  much  as  they,  remained  behind, 
lacking  the  energy  necessary  to  transport  them 
to  another  hemisphere. 

•^•'The  emigrant  population,  therefore,  possesses 
pre-eminently  this  characteristic — that  it  has 
sufficient  life  to  have  motion,  sufficient  faith  to 
face  the  future,  under  the  unknown  conditions 
of  a  new  world,  and  sufficient  capacity  to  acquire 
the  means  requisite  to  transport  them  across 
the  Atlantic.  This  emigration,  which  is  often 
regarded  by  Americans  as  an  element  of  danger, 
has  probably  contributed  more  than  any  other, 
except  the  Puritan  education  of  New  England, 
to  the  making  of  the  Republic. 

The  American,  it  is  evident,  is  no  mere  English- 
man transplanted  to  another  continent.  In  his 
veins  flows  the  blood  of  a  dozen  non-English 
races.  The  English,  some  say,  can  claim  only 
an  antiquarian  interest  in  the  new  race  which 
has  emerged  from  the  furnace  pot  into  which 
all  nationalities  have  been  smelted  down  in 
order  to  produce  that  richest  ingot  of  humanity, 
the  modem  American.*  But  there  is  surely  no 
need  for  this  vehement  repudiation  of  the  nation 
which  first  colonised  Virginia  and  equipped  the 
Mayflower.  As  for  the  foreign  element  in  the 
human  conglomerate,  that  troubles  us  little.  We 
English  are  a  composite  race.  It  is  no  small 
part  of  the  secret  of  our  greatness.  If  the 
North  American  Continent  may  be  compared 
to  a  mammoth  blast  furnace,  in  which  the  cmde 
ores  quarried  in  many  diverse  mines  are  being 
smelted  into  a  human  compound  quite  distinct 

*  I  hope  that  this  may  not  biing  a  blush  to  the  cheek 
of  any  American,  for,  as  Mr.  W.  D.  Howells  wrote  in 
1897,  "  Whatever  Europe  may  think  to  the  contrary,  we 
are  now  really  a  modest  people."  But  when  I  read  the 
speech  .of  Mr.  Cummins,  the  Governor-elect  of  Iowa, 
at  the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce  dinner,  I  was 
reassured.  For  Mr.  Cummins  declared  that  "In  the 
depth  and  breadth  of  clmracter,  in  the  volume  of  hope 
and  ambition,  in  the  universality  of  knowledge,  in 
reverence  for  law  and  order,  in  the  beauty  and  sanctity 
of  our  homes,  in  sobriety,  in  respect  for  the  rights  of 
others,  in  recognition  of  the  duties  of  citizenship,  and  in 
the  ease  and  honour  with  which  we  tread  the  myriad 
paths  leading  from  rank  to  rank  in  life,  our  people 
surpass  all  their  fellow-men." 


and  diverse  from  any  of  its  constituents,  these 
islands  of  ours  may  be  described  as  a  crucible 
in  which  the  same  process  has  been  going  on 
for  ages.     We  are  emphatically  a  mixed  race. 
The  process  which  we  witness  on  a  great  scale 
and  with    immense   rapidity  in   Chicago    and 
New  York  has  been  going  on  for  centuries  in 
Britain.    Aboriginal  Briton,  conquering  Roman, 
marauding    Pict,   devastating    Saxon,    piratical 
Dane,  plundering  Norseman,  and  civilising  Nor- 
man, were   all  used   up  in  the  blend   labelled 
English.    Long  after  the  English  stock  emerged 
from   the   cracible   of  war,  it  was   continually 
improved  by  the  addition  of  foreign  elements. 
French  Huguenots,  German  emigrants,  fugitive 
Jews,  Dutchmen  and  Spaniards,  all  added  more 
or  less  of  a  foreign  strain  to  our  English  blood. 
It  has  been  our  salvation.   The  mixing  of  Welsh 
and   Irish,  Scotch  and   English,  Celts   of  the 
Highland  and  Danes  of  Northumberland,  which 
has  gone  on  for  centuries  and  is  going  on  to-day, 
has  produced  a  type  which  is  being  reproduced 
on  a  gigantic  scale  and  with  infinite  modifica- 
tions across  the  Atlantic.     That   they  are  not 
the  same,  but  diverse,  is  a  matter  of  course. 
Even  the  American  Constitution,  fashioned,  as 
its  founders  believed,  on  the  lines  of  the  British, 
differs  notably  from   its   model.     There  is  no 
such  thing  as  a  common  race  even  in  England, 
let  alone  in  the  United  States.     We  are  all  con- 
glomerates, with  endlessly  varying  constituents. 
But  we  have  at  least  a  common  language,  and 
we  all  own  allegiance  to  Shakespeare  if  to  no 
other   man    of   woman    bom.      As    Professor 
Waldstein   pointed    out,   the    English-speaking 
nations   possess  seven   of  the  elements  which 
go  to  constitute  a  nationality,  viz.,  a  common 
language ;     common     forms    of    government ; 
common  culture,  including  customs  and  insti- 
tutions; a  common  history ;  a  common  religion, 
and,  finally,  common  interests. 

But  the  United  Kingdom  was  a  crucible  the 
size  of  a  tea-cup.  In  the  United  States  we  find 
a  crucible  of  Continental  dimensions.  A  pro- 
cess which  in  England  has  spread  over  centuries 
has  been  carried  on  in  the  United  States  within 
the  lifetime  of  generations.  But,  notwithstand- 
ing all  this  vast  influx  from  beyond  the  seas,  it 
has  failed  to  submerge  the  distinctively  English-  _ 
speaking  American.  The  New  Englander  is 
still  on  top,  and  likely  to  remain  so,  althougli  in 
many  of  the  great  cities  he  has  been  dethroned 
for  a  time  by  the  Irish  and  their  bosses. 

The  greatest  thing  which  the  Americans 
have  done,  much  greater  than  the  conquest  of 
the  Philippines  or  the  invasion  of  the  English 
market,  or  even  than  the  suppression  of  the 
Great  Rebellion,  has  been  the  superintendence 
of  this  vast  crucible.  The  greatest  achieve- 
ment was  the  smelting  of  men  of  all  national- 


A   Crucible  of  Nations. 


6[ 


ities  into  one  dominant  American  type,  or — 
to  vary  the  metaphor — weaving  all  these  diverse 
threads  of  foreign  material  into  one  uniform 
texture  of  American  civilisation.  It  has  been 
done  very  largely  in  great  cities,  and  the  work 
has  been  taken  in  hand  by  men  who  are  very  far 
from  conscious  artificers  of  providential  designs. 
Tammany  and  its  related  political  organisations 
have  done  a  work,  the  full  value  of  which  is  still 
far  from  being  adequately  appreciated  either  at 
home  or  abroad.  These  political  organisa- 
tions, impelled  solely  by  their  own  political 
ambitions,  were  nevertheless  the  most  efficient 
agencies  for  grafting  this  multitudinous  myriad 
of  foreign  emigrants  upon  the  American  trunk. 
The  Italian  or  Polish  emigrant  who  arrives  in 
New  York  and  Chicago  with  a  couple  of  dollars 
in  his  pocket  and  with  no  word  of  English  on 
his  tongue  would  have  perished,  had  it  not  been 
that  in  the  Ward  Heeler  and  the  Captain  of  the 
precincts  into  which  he  had  drifted,  he  found  a 
friend  who,  in  return  for  political  service  to  be 
rendered  in  future,  was  a  very  present  help  in 
time  of  need.  He  found  him  lodgings  in  a 
tenement  house  ;  he  often  found  him  work ;  he 
found  him  an  interpreter.  When  he  got  into 
trouble  with  the  police,  he  bailed  him  out  or 
paid  his  fine,  or  used  his  pull  with  the  magistrate 
to  enable  him  to  escape  unwhipped  of  justice ; 
when  he  was  ill,  he  put  him  in  the  hospital; 
when  he  was  dead,  he  buried  him ;  and,  above 
all,  before  election  day  came,  he  naturalised 
him,  and  secured  his  vote.  No  man  is  natu- 
ralised in  America  according  to  law,  unless  he 
can  declare  that  he  has  read  and  accepted  the 
principles  of  the  American  Constitution.  Mil- 
lions of  foreigners  have  been  naturalised  and 
vote  every  day,  who  know  about  as  much  of 
th^  principles  of  the  Constitution  as  the  Russian 
soldiers  who  thought  that  the  Constitution  was 
a  woman  and  the  wife  of  one  of  their  Grand 
Dukes.  Nevertheless,  it  was  by  this  means,  in 
the  first  instance,  that  the  foreign  emigrant  was 
enabled  to  take  the  first  step  towards  the 
acquisition  of  the  American  nationality. 

The  school  to  which  his  children  were  sent 
completed  the  operation.  In  one  generation, 
or  at  most  in  two,  the  foreign  emigrant  became 
thoroughly  Americanised,  for  the  Americanisa- 
tion  of  the  world  is  nowhere  gaining  ground 
more  rapidly  than  in  the  Americanisation  of  the 
citizens  of  the  world,  who  from  love  of  adven- 
ture, from  sheer  misfortune,  or  from  any  other 
cause,  have  transferred  their  residence  from  the 
old  world  to  the  New. 

When  the  Republic  was  founded,  Mr. 
Bancroft  estimated  that  only  four-fifths  of  the 
population  of  the  revolted  colonies  used  En- 
glish as  their  mother-tongue.  According  to  Mr. 
Carroll  Wright,  the  United  States  Commissioner 


of  Labour,  the  population  to-day  is  half  rather 
than  one-fifth.  This,  of  course,  does  not  imply 
that  Mr.  Wright's  half  is  made  up  of  persons  of 
foreign  birth.  At  the  census  of  1 900  not  more 
than  10,000,000  of  the  population  of  the  United 
States  had  been  born  outside  the  Union.  Of 
the  19,000,000  who  emigrated  to  the  United 
States  since  1821,  9,000,000  are  dead;  but 
before  they  died  they  multiplied  amazingly. 

It  is  characteristic  of  the  foreign  emigrant 
that,  even  when  he  speaks  French,  he  has  been 
much  more  obedient  to  the  ancient  precept  to 
multiply  and  increase  and  replenish  the  earth 
than  the  native-born  English-American.  The 
tendency  to  limit  families,  which  is  most  con- 
spicuous in  France,  and  is  now  only  one 
degree  less  conspicuous  in  the  Australian 
colonies  and  the  United  Kingdom,  has  long 
been  remarked  as  one  of  the  dangers  menacing 
the  maintenance  of  an  English-speaking  civilisa- 
tion in  the  United  States.  The  well-to-do 
American  family  of  old  standing  will  have  two, 
three,  or  four  children,  while  the  German,  Irish, 
or  Polish  emigrant  who  works  in  the  mill  or  the 
mine  or  the  factory,  will  have  litters  of  children 
to  the  number  of  fifteen  and  under.  It  may  be 
said  that  it  does  not  matter,  as  they  all  learn  to 
speak  English,  but  it  matters  a  great  deal  ia  esti- 
mating the  influence  of  the  various  foreign  strains 
upon  their  ultimate  product,  the  American  race. 
Professor  Starr  recently  startled  the  world  by 
maintaining  that,  if  it  were  not  for  the  continuous 
influx  of  foreign  emigration  with  its  resultant 
prolific  families,  the  genuine  American  would 
approximate  to  the  type  of  the  Red  Indian,  and, 
I  suppose,  like  the  Red  Indian,  would  dwindle 
and  disappear.  A  recent  traveller  in  the  United  ' 
States  declared,  on  returning  to  Britain,  that  the 
American  continent  was  like  nothing  so  much 
as  one  of  the  great  refuse-destroyers  which  exist 
in  every  large  town.  The  climate  seemed  to 
burn  up  the  vitality  of  the  settlers,  producing 
nervous  exhaustion,  which,  if  not  recruited  con- 
tinuously from  without,  would  use  up  the  race. 
These  estimates  are  great  exaggerations,  but 
they  testify  to  a  tendency  which  should  not  be 
lost  sight  of.  The  European  American  seems 
to  run  too  much  to  nerve  and  brain.  He  lacks 
the  beefy  animalism  of  his  British  and  German 
progenitor,  and  living  at  a  great  pace  stands  in 
perpetual  need  of  nerve  tonics,  medicines,  and 
pills  of  all  sorts.  The  Americans,  judging  by 
many  of  the  foremost  specimens  of  the  race,  have 
developed  their  brains  at  the  expense  of  their 
stomachs.  They  have  great  calculating  appara- 
tuses, but  their  digestive  organs  leave  much  to 
be  desired.  You  will  oft^n  find  men  who  are 
standing  the  heavy  strain  of  a  long  day's  work  in 
commerce  or  in  journalism  who  are  compelled 
to  diet  themselves  upon  milk  and  crackers. 


62 


The  Americanisation  of  the   World. 


It  is  very  curious  to  note  the  various  ingre- 
dients which  have  been  contributing  to  this 
international  crucible  by  foreign  nations.  The 
German  percentage  was  highest  between  1850 
and  i860,  when  it  reached  36-6  percent.  In 
the  last  decade  this  had  fallen  to  13*7.  The 
Irish  percentage  was  42*3  per  cent,  in  the 
period  from  1821  to  1850;  but  between  1851 
to  i860  it  fell  to  35 '2,  and  in  the  last  decade 
it  had  dropped  to  only  10*5  per  cent. 

Great  Britain  reached  its  maximum  between 
1861  and  1870,  when  the  percentage  was  26*2. 
In  the  last  decade  it  had  fallen  to  7  •  4.  The 
emigrants  from  Scandinavia,  Germany,  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  including  those  from 
Canada  and  Newfoundland,  amounted  to  74*3 
per  cent,  of  the  nineteen  millions  of  emigrants 
who  settled  in  America  in  the  last  eighty  years  ; 
but  between  1850  and  i860  they  contributed 
91  "2  percent,  to  the  total,  and  in  1890-1900 
their  proportion  had  fallen  to  40  •  4  per  cent. 

The  emigration  from  Southern  and  Eastern 
Europe  may  be  said  only  to  have  begun  in 
1880.  But  the  number  increased  so  rapidly 
that  in  the  last  decade  Austria-Hungary,  Italy, 
Russia,  and  Poland  contributed  50 'i  per  cent, 
of  the  total  number  of  emigrants.  The  number 
of  emigrants  arriving  in  the  United  States  has 
shown  a  tendency  of  late  to  decrease.  It 
reached  its  maximum  in  the  year  1882,  when 
no  fewer  than  788,992  emigrants  entered  the 
Union.  From  that  year  the  figures  dropped 
until  1886,  when  they  numbered  only  334,203. 
The  fluctuations  were  very  great.  In  1892 
they  had  risen  to  623,084;  in  1898  they  had 
fallen  to  229,299.  Since  then  they  had  begun 
to  climb  up  again,  and  in  the  year  ending 
June  30th,  1900,  the  total  number  of  emigrants 
was  448,572.  Of  this  number  only  2,392 
belonged  to  the  professional  classes;  61,443 
were  skilled  labourers;  1635508  were  labourers; 
while  the  remainder,  chiefly  women  and  children, 
134,941,  had  no  specified  occupation. 

Almost  all  these  emigrants  go  to  the  North 
and  West.  At  last  census  the  proportion  of 
foreign-born  in  the  Southern  States  was  less  than 

5  per  cent.  This  contrasts  very  much  with  the 
returns  from  other  States.  Rhode  Island  had 
31-4;  North  Dakota,  35*4;  Montana,  27-6; 
Colorado,  16*9;  and  Nebraska,  16 '6  of  the 
foreign-born. 

Of  the  448,000  immigrants  into  the  United 
States  last  year,  300,000  came  from  Austria- 
Hungary,  Italy,  and  Russia.  Of  the  total  number 
of  immigrants,  one  quarter  came  from  Germany, 
one-fifth  from  Ireland,  15  per  cent,  from  England, 

6  per  cent,  from  Sweden  and  Nonvay.  It  is 
estimated  that  the  number  of  Germans  in  the 
United  States  was  close  upon  ten  millions,  of 


whom  three  millions  were  born  in  Germany,  and 
the  rest  are  of  German  parentage.  It  sounds  like 
a  far-away  dream  of  the  past  to  recall  the  fact 
that  sixty  years  ago,  at  the  time  when  the  future 
destiny  of  Texas  was  not  finally  fixed,  German 
dreamers  maintained  that  it  might  be  possible 
to  build  up  a  German  state  in  Texas  which 
might  permanently  divide  North  America  from 
the  dominant  Anglo-Saxon. 

The  most  difficult  ingredient  in  the  crucible, 
the  one  which  has  hitherto  proved  most  refrac- 
tory, is  the  black  population  of  the  south.     The 
census  of  1900  showed  the  coloured  jxjpulation 
to  number  9,312,585.     Of  these  8,840,789  were 
negroes,  the  others  being  about  250,000  Indians, 
119,000    Chinese,  and  about  86,000  Japanese. 
The    increase   of   the    negroes    did    not   quite 
keep  pace  with  that  of  the  white  population, 
which  is  probably  due  entirely  to  the  fact  that 
there  were  no  negro  immigrants  into  the  United 
States  since  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade. 
In  1890,  the  blacks  were  12*5  per  cent  of  the 
population,  in    1900  they   were    12*2.      These 
refractory  substances  often  contain  within  them- 
selves elements  of  great  value  necessary  for  the 
formation  of  a  perfect   blend.     The  American 
recoils  from  the  thought  of  miscenegation.     But 
if  the  tendency  of  the  climate  and  the  habit  of 
life  is  to  attenuate  the  physical  frame  and  burn 
up  the  nervous  vitality  of  the  race,  it  is  obvious 
that  the  nine  million  negroes  afford  an  element 
of  robust  animal  vigour  which  may  yet  stand  in 
good  stead  if  the  process  of  assimilation  could 
be  rendered  less  unpleasant.     The  education  of 
the  negro   race,  taken   in   hand  so   admirably 
by  Booker  Washington,  who,  in  founding  Tusk- 
egee  College,  has   shown  a   rare   combination 
of  science  and  common  sense,  will  render  the 
process  less  intolerable  than  it  appears  at  present. 
But  the  outcry  by  the  Southern  press  when  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt  invited  Booker  Washington  to 
dine  at  the  White  House  was  an  unpleasant  re- 
mmder  of  the  intensity  of  race  prejudice,  while 
the  continual  occurrence  of  lynchings  shows  that 
considerable  progress  has  yet  to  be  made  before 
the  Americans  can  see  their  way  to  a  satisfactory 
solution   of  the    negro   problem.     In   the    last 
twenty  years  over  3000  lynchings  have  taken 
place   in   the  United   States,  the  highest  total 
being  236    in  1892.     In  1900   the   figure   had 
fallen  to   115.     It  is  not  true,  as  is  generally 
asserted,  that  the  majority  of  lynchings  occur  to* 
avenge  assaults  or  outrages  by  black  men  upon 
white  women.     In  the  last  sixteen  years  2516 
lynchings  were  reported.     In  fewer  than  800  of 
these  was  an  assault  upon  women  alleged  as  the 
excuse.     The   chief  cause   for   which    negroes 
were  lynched  or  murdered  was  attempted  murder, 
but   115  were  lynched  for  horse  stealing  and 


A  Crucible  of  Nations. 


93  for  arson.  However  painful  these  crimes  of 
violence  may  be,  they  are  comparatively  few  in 
number;  loo  lynchings  among  g,ooc,ooo  negroes 
is  a  blot  on  the  sun,  no  doubt,  but  it  is  not  an 
ecHpse. 

The  political  effect  of  this  vast  foreign  ele- 
ment, whether  black  or  white,  in  the  United 
States,  upon  the  race  alliance  of  the  English- 
speaking  peoples  has  naturally  attracted  con- 
siderable attention.  The  present  Duke  of 
Argyll  regarded  it  as  one  of  the  features  which 
would  tend  to  promote  such  an  alliance. 
Writing  in  the  North  American  Revicio  in 
October,  1893,  he  laid  considerable  stress  upon 
the  advantage  which  it  would  be  to  the  United 
States  to  have  the  sympathy  of  a  sound,  strong 
English  confederation  in  league  with  the  Union. 
He  wrote  : — "  As  the  foreign  element,  Italian  or 
German  or  French-Canadian,  gets  stronger  and 
more  segregated  in  special  states  in  the  Union, 
it  is  quite  conceivable  that  race  or  national 
questions  under  some  specious  name  may  cause 
trouble,  and  that  the  '  national '  population  may 
live  to  hoist  the  tricolour  or  some  other  foreign 
flag  in  preference  to  the  Stars  and  Stripes.  The 
French  in  the  north-east  might  well  form  such  a 
national  cave  of  Adullam.  Then  how  about 
the  foreign  elements  in  the  South,  half  Congo, 
half  Creole  ?  These  things  may  be  out  of  sight 
for  the  present,  but  the  present  becomes  the 
distant  past  very  soon  in  politics,  and  an  English 
Bund  is  not  a  bad  antidote  to  certain  schemes 
and  dreams  which  are  very  un-EngUsh,  using 
that  adjective  in  its  best  sense." 

The  tendency  of  foreign  populations  to 
become  centred  in  certain  districts  is  probably 
a  temporary  phenomenon.  There  are  quarters 
in  New  York  and  Chicago  where  the  English 
language  is  hardly  known.  There  is  an  anec- 
dote told  of  a  foreign  immigrant  who,  having 
settled  in  New  York,  applied  herself  diligently  to 
learning  what  she  imagined  to  be  the  language 
of  the  country  in  which  she  had  settled,  and  it 
was  only  after  she  had  removed  to  another 
precinct  that  she  learned  to  her  chagrin  that  she 
had  wasted  all  her  pains  in  learning  a  Bohemian 
dialect,  which,  as  it  was  the  only  language  spoken 
in  her  street,  she  had  mistaken  for  the  American 
tongue.  In  all  the  States,  however,  the  work  of 
fusing  the  various  nationalities  into  one  homo- 
geneous whole  is  carried  on  steadily,  though 
not  at  such  high  pressure,  even  in  the  country 
districts  where  it  is  still  possible  for  aliens  to 
preserve  the  language,  religion,  and  customs  of 
their  fatherland.  Mr.  Rodney  Walsh,  who  con- 
tributed an  article  to  the  "  Forum  "  for  February, 
1891,  on  "The  Farmer's  Changed  Condition," 
declared  that  in  entire  counties  in  Illinois  and 
Wisconsin  the  English  language  is  scarcely  ever 


heard  outside  the  great  towns.  The  church 
services  are  conducted  in  a  foreign  tongue,  and 
instruction  is  given  in  it  at  the  schools.  Mr. 
Babcock,  writing  on  "  The  Scandinavians  in  the 
North  West "  a  year  later,  said  :  "  You  can  travel 
300  miles  across  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  and  Minne- 
sota without  once  leaving  land  owned  by 
Scandinavians."  In  Minnesota  one-seventh  of 
the  legislators  are  Scandinavians,  and  there  are 
thirty-bcven  ScancHnavian  newspapers.  But  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  testimonies  as  to  the 
extent  to  which  the  United  States  have  been 
Europeanised  reached  me  in  the  shape  of  a 
letter  from  Galveston,  in  Texas,  in  1891, 
The  writer,  Mr.  E.  J.  Coyle,  wrote  :  — 

"  Don't  believe  for  a  moment  that  twenty-five 
per  cent,  of  our  citizens  are  of  British  or  Saxon 
origin,  or  of  English-speaking  sympathies,  for  they 
are  not.  Take  for  example  this  Latin-American 
province,  Texas,  or  California,  Arizona  or  any 
of  the  new  lands  ceded  by  the  Guadaloupe- 
Hidalgo  treaty,  and  has  the  Englishman  a 
foothold?  Thank  God,  no.  New  Braunfells, 
Comal  County,  one  of  our  most  successful 
German  Colonies,  located  in  1840,  has  never 
recognised  an  English  journal  in  its  midst. 
The  children  of  the  second  generation  speak 
the  language  of  Goethe.  I  can  take  you  to 
five  thousand  post  offices,  schools,  and  courts  of 
justice  in  our  state  where  Spanish,  German,  and 
Bohemian  are  exclusively  used — in  fact,  the 
official  language.  Galveston,  with  a  population 
■  of  fifty  thousand,  cannot  muster  a  corporal's 
squad  of  Americans  of  English-speaking  origin  ; 
the  same  can  be  said  of  all  our  great  western 
cities.  The  day  of  the  English-speaking  people 
here  is  gone,  and  it  will  never  re-dawn." 

It  would  be  interesting  to  compare  this  confi- 
dent prediction  of  ten  years  ago  with  the  present 
state  of  things  in  Texas.  That  there  may  be  in 
various  parts  of  the  American  Union  communi- 
ties which  preserve  their  ancient  language  with 
the  zeal  of  the  Welsh  or  of  the  Scottish  High- 
landers may  be  true,  but  the  only  effect  of  this 
will  be  to  increase  the  number  of  bi-hngual 
people  in  the  United  States.  It  is  even  possible 
that  a  nationality  which  has  allowed  its  language 
to  fall  into  disuse  in  its  native  land  may  regain 
its  vigour  and  vitality  by  being  transported  to 
the  United  States.  The  movement  for  reviving 
the  use  and  the  study  of  the  ancient  Irish 
language  is  much  more  vigorous  in  the  United 
States  than  in  Ireland  itself.  Newspapers  printed 
in  Irish  are  produced,  circulated  and  read  in 
America  to  a  much  greater  extent  than  any 
similar  publications  in  Ireland.  The  attempt  to 
boycott  the  English  language  in  some  American 
schools  has  been  carried  to  considerable  lengths, 
but  even  in  places  like  Milwaukee  and   other 


64 


The  Americanisation  of  the   World. 


foreign  settlements  in  the  North-West,  it  is  found 
impossible  to  prevent  the  children  learning 
English.  They  pick  it  up  in  the  playground, 
and  as  English  is,  and  is  likely  to  remain,  the 
lingua  franca  of  the  continent,  the  commercial 
advantages  of  acquiring  the  English  tongue  are 
far  too  great  not  to  be  appreciated  by  the  shrewd 
citizens  of  the  Republic. 


What  type  will  ultimately  issue  from  this 
crucible  of  the  nations  it  is  yet  too  early  to 
predict.  Into  the  crucible  all  the  nations  have 
cast  of  their  best,  and  it  would  be  a  sore  dis- 
appointment if  this  vast  experiment  in  nation- 
making  did  not  yield  a  result  commensurate 
with  th.e  immensity  of  the  crucible  and  the 
richness  of  the  material  cast  therein. 


(     65     ) 


PART  II. 
THE   REST  OF  THE  WORLD. 


Chapter  I. — Europe. 

If  we  in  England,  who  from  the  point  of  view 
of  politics  and  religion  are  much  more  American 
than  we  are  Anglican,  contemplate  with  satisfac- 
tion and  even  with  enthusiasm  the  Americanisation 
of  the  world,  the  process  is  naturally  regarded 
with  very  different  sentiments  in  other  quarters. 
Even  Anglican  Englishmen  can  hardly  refrain 
from  a  certain  feeling  of  national  pride  when 
they  see  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  subjected 
to  the  subtle  and  penetrating  influence  of  ideas 
which  are  at  least  conveyed  in  English  speech, 
and  which  may  in  some  cases  be  traced  back 
to  the  days  of  the  English  Commonwealth.  As 
Macaulay  pointed  out,  even  the  Cavaliers  them- 
selves could  hardly  refrain  from  exulting  at  the 
thought  of  the  pinnacle  of  greatness  to  which 
the  armies  of  the  Ironsides  and  the  exploits  of 
Blake  and  his  captains  raised  the  reputation  of 
England  in  the  days  of  Cromwell.  And  so  in 
like  manner  even  those  Anglican  Englishman 
who  find  themselves  reduced  from  a  position  of 
pre-eminence  to  that  of  a  minority,  swept  irre- 
sistibly forward  by  the  strong  democratic  cur- 
rents which  sway  the  English-speaking  world, 
cannot  altogether  repress  a  sense  of  exultant 
pride  that  the  men  who  have  sprung  from  the 
loins  of  the  Commonwealth  should  be  so  power- 
fully moulding  the  destinies  of  the  world.  The 
Anglicans  are  in  the  movement,  they  are  not  of 
it.  Nevertheless,  after  all,  blood  is  thicker  than 
water,  and  the  men 

"  Who  speak  the  tongue  that  Shakespeare  spake. 
The  faith  and  morals  hold  which  ^lilton  held," 

can  never  be  severed  by  difference  of  political 
allegiance  from  the  common  stock  of  our  com- 
mon race. 

No  such  consolation,  however,  is  vouchsafed 
to  the  nations  of  Europe,  who  find  themselves 
subjected,  against  their  will  and  without  their 
leave  being  asked  or  obtained,  to  the  process  of 
Americanisation.  That  the  process  is  beneficial, 
that  they  will  be  better  for  the  treatment,  may 
be  true ;  but  they  do  not  see  it.  At  the  same 
time  it  is  well  to  discriminate  between  Europe 
and  the  Europeans  that  therein  do  dwell.  To 
the  majority  of  the  Europeans  the  American 
invasion  is  by  no  means  unwelcome,  while  a  very 
.large  section  would  delight  to  see  a  much  greater 


Americanisation  of  Europe  than  anything  which 
is  likely  to  take  place. 

It  is  otherwise  with  the  sovereigns  and  nobles, 
who  represent  feudalism  and  the  old  world 
monarchical  and  aristocratic  ideas  which  have  as 
their  European  centre  the  Courts  of  Berlin  and 
Vienna.  In  Europe,  France  and  Switzerland 
are  already  republican.  Belgium,  Holland,  and 
the  Scandinavian  countries,  while  monarchical 
in  form,  are  republican  in  essence.  The  Spanish 
Government  may  be  regarded  as  a  kind  of 
annexe  of  the  Hapsburgs,  while  the  Italian 
monarchy  is  a  southern  buttress  of  the  Austro- 
German  Alliance.  Russia  stands  apart,  a  world 
in  itself,  perhaps  the  most  democratic  country 
in  Europe,  consisting  as  it  does  of  one  vast  con- 
geries of  communes,  which  are  little  republics 
under  the  supreme  direction  of  a  central  auto- 
cracy. The  Emperor  of  Russia,  however,  the 
monarch  of  right  divine,  solemnly  consecrated 
to  be  guide  and  governor  of  his  people 
when  crowned  at  the  Kremlin,  has,  no  doubt, 
many  sympathies  in  common  with  the  other 
sovereigns  of  Europe ;  but  the  Tsars  of  to-day 
do  not  aspire  to  fill  the  role  of  the  Tsars  at 
the  beginning  of  the  Nineteenth  Century.  In 
those  days  first  Alexander  and  then  Nicholas, 
believed  that  the  defence  of  the  monarchical 
principle  was  one  of  the  most  sacred  of  their 
duties — a  conviction  to  which  the  Holy  Alliance 
gave  vigorous  expression.  The  Holy  Alliance 
has  long  since  passed  away,  leaving  behind  it  as 
its  chief  result  the  Monroe  doctrine,  the  promul- 
gation of  which  was  suggested  by  Canning  to 
President  Monroe  as  the  most  effective  answer 
to  the  pretensions  of  the  allied  sovereigns  of 
Central  Europe, 

The  centre  of  resistance  to  American  prin- 
ciples in  Europe  lies  at  Berlin,  and  the  leader 
against  and  great  protagonist  of  Americanisation 
is  the  Kaiser  of  Germany.  There  is  something 
pathetic  in  the  heroic  pose  of  the  German 
Emperor  resisting  the  American  flood.  It  is 
Canute  over  again,  but  the  Kaiser  has  not  planted 
himself  on  the  shore,  passively  to  wait  the  rising 
of  the  tide  in  order  to  rebuke  the  flattery  of  his 
courtiers  ;  he  takes  his  stand  where  land  and 
water  meet,  and  with  drawn  sword  defies  the 
advancing  tide.  And  all  the  while  the  water 
is  percolating  through  the  sand  on  which  he  is 
standing,    undermining    the    very   foundations 

F 


3    Z 


Europe. 


67 


upon  which  his  feet  are  planted,  so  that  he  him- 
self is  driven  to  Americanise,  even  when  he  is 
resisting  Americanisation.  There  are  no  more 
Americanised  cities  in  Europe  than  Hamburg 
and  Berlin.  They  are  American  in  the  rapidity 
of  their  growth,  American  in  their  nervous 
energy,  American  in  their  quick  appropriation 
of  the  facilities  for  rapid  transport.  Ameri- 
cans fiiid  themselves  much  more  at  home, 
notwithstanding  the  differences  of  language,  in 
the  feverish  concentrated  energy  of  the  life  of 
Hamburg  and  of  Berlin  than  in  the  more  staid 
and  conservative  cities  of  Liverpool  and  London. 
The  German  manufacturer,  the  German  ship- 
builder, the  German  engineer,  are  quick  to  seize 
and  use  the  latest  American  machines.  The 
American  type-writer  is  supreme  in  Germany  as 
in  Britain,  and  what  is  much  more  important 
than  this,  the  American  farmer  continues  to  raise 
bread  and  bacon  in  increasing  quantities  for  the 
German  breakfast  table. 

Nor  is  it  only  in  material  things  that  the 
substance  of  American  manufactures  enters  into 
the  fabric  of  modern  Germany.  The  constant 
flow  of  German  emigration  to  the  United  States 
of  America  has  created  a  German-American, 
whose  influence  upon  the  relatives  whom  he  left 
behind  in  the  fatherland  is  somewhat  analogous 
to  the  influence  of  the  American-Irish  upon  the 
Irish  in  Ireland,  The  German-Americans,  like 
the  Irish-Americans,  are  passionately  patriotic, 
with  a  dual  patriotism.  They  are  intensely 
Republican  ;  the  hyphenated  American,  as  he  is 
called,  has  shown  a  readiness  to  shed  his  blood 
and  sacrifice  himself  in  the  service  of  his  adopted 
country  equal  to  that  of  any  native  bom  of  the 
States.  But  at  the  same  time  his  romantic 
devotion  to  the  country  from  which  he  sprang  is 
not  impaired  by  his  allegiance  to  the  State  in 
which  he  has  found  a  home.  But  this  intense 
and  idealised  devotion  to  a  motherland  is  quite 
compatible,  as  the  experience  of  the  Irish  shows, 
with  an  absolute  indifference  to  and  even  posi- 
tive dislike  of  the  political  system  which,  for 
the  time  being,  afflicts  the  old  folks  at  home. 
The  German-American  differentiates  between 
the  Fatherland  and  the  Kaiser,  and  therein  in 
the  eyes  of  the  Court  commits  unpardonable  sin. 
To  identify  the  Emperor  with  the  Empire,  to 
render  it  impossible  for  any  German  to  think  of 
Germany  without  at  the  same  time  doing  hom- 
age to  the  German  Emperor,  is  one  of  the  pre- 
occupations of  William  II. 

But  the  German- Americans  have  escaped 
beyond  the  glamour  of  his  personality.  They 
are  the  men  of  Germany,  but  they  are  not  the  men 
of  the  Kaiser.  Their  influence  on  the  German 
electorate  is  an  American  influence,  which  tells 
much  more  in  the  direction  of  the  Social  Demo- 
crats than  of  the  Junker  Party,  who  constitute 


the  stern  men-at-arms  of  the  Prussian  Monarchy. 
It  would  be  an  interesting  study  to  investigate 
how  far  the  Social  Democratic  movement  in 
Germany  is  fed  as  by  secret  springs  from  across 
the  Atlantic.  The  connection  is  not  by  any 
means  so  obvious  as  that  which  binds  together 
the  Irish-Americans  and  the  Irish  National 
League  ;  but  there  is  a  constant  movement  of 
men  and  of  ideas  between  the  Social  Democratic 
Party  in  Germany  and  the  German  electorate  in 
the  United  States. 

Against  all  these  influences  the  Kaiser  wages 
desperate  but  unavailing  war.  In  resisting  the 
Americanisation  of  Germany,  his  first  aim  has 
naturally  been  to  prevent  the  Americanisation 
of  the  Germans  who  leave  Germany.  The 
ceaseless  tide  of  emigration  which  sets  westward 
from  German  shores  flows  for  the  most  part  to 
New  York,  the  European  gate  of  the  American 
Continent.  When  once  the  German  passes 
Bartholdi's  statue  of  Liberty  Enlightening  the 
World,  he  is  lost  to  the  German  Empire.  He 
may  remain  a  German  for  a  generation  or  two, 
cherishing  his  language,  cultivating  the  litera- 
ture of  his  country,  but  in  ten  years  his  children 
have  picked  up  English,  and  in  fifty  years 
nothing  but  the  name  and  family  tradition 
remain  to  connect  them  with  the  Fatherland. 
Their  descendants  are  no  more  Germans  than 
President  Roosevelt  is  a  Dutchman. 

To  arrest  this  process  of  the  thorough  Ameri- 
canisation, appropriation,  and  from  his  point  of 
view  the  absolute  eftacement  of  German  citizens, 
the  Emperor  has  sought  to  deflect  the  tide  of 
German  emigration  to  German  colonies  which 
he  has  acquired,  and  which  he  has  subsidised 
regardless  of  expense  in  various  parts  of  the 
world.  But  the  German  who  has  once  made  up 
his  mind  to  turn  his  back  upon  the  home  of  his 
race,  is  singularly  impervious  to  the  charms  of 
Damaraland  or  the  fascinations  of  German  East 
Africa.  The  Kaiser  can  export  officials  where 
he  pleases,  but  the  tide  of  German  emigration, 
like  the  wind,  goeth  where  it  listeth. 

A  despairing  attempt  is  now  being  made  to 
turn  the  tide  of  German  emigration  from  North 
to  South  America.  The  German  Colonial  Party 
imagine  that  by  creating  great  German  colonies 
in  Brazil,  it  may  be  possible  to  build  up  a 
greater  Germany  in  the  Southern  Continent, 
where  the  German  Empire  may  preserve  in- 
tact from  Americanism  millions  of  German 
citizens.  The  experiment  has  not  yet  been 
abandoned,  but  South  Americans  say  that  the 
process  of  Americanisation  is  not  less  speedy 
in  Brazil.  The  German  shows  the  same  readi- 
ness to  adapt  himself  to  his  local  environment 
and  to  acquire  the  language  of  his  adopted 
country  whether  that  environment  is  English  or 
Portuguese.     The  only  result  which  has  so  far 

F    2 


68 


The  A^nericanisation  of  the   World. 


attended  the  attempt  to  deflect  German  emigra- 
tion to  Brazil  has  been  to  give  a  sharper  edge 
to  the  Monroe  doctrine,  and  to  strengthen  the 
determination  of  the  Government  at  Washing- 
ton to  build  an  American  navy  adequate  to 
enforce  the  American  veto  upon  European 
conquest  in  the  Western  hemisphere. 

Compelled  to  admit  failure  in  his  attempt  to 
prevent  the  Americanisation  of  Germans  outside 
Germany,  the  Emperor  has  redoubled  his 
efforts  in  order  to  prevent  the  Americanisation 
ol  Europe.  This  has  been  a  fixed  idea  with 
him  ever  since  he  came  to  the  throne.  On  his 
first  visit  to  the  Tsar  of  Russia,  he  propoimded 
to  him  his  favourite  thesis,  and  endeavoured  to 
enlist  the  Tsar's  support  in  the  holy  cause  of 
anti- Americanism.  Nicholas  11.  listened  with  a 
sympathetic  interest,  which  is  natural  to  him  in 
talking  to  all  men,  whether  moujiks  or  Kaisers, 
but  he  did  not  see  his  way  to  fall  in  with  his 
guest's  idea. 

The  Kaiser,  behind  his  apparent  impulsive- 
ness, is  tenacious  in  pursuing  his  objects. 
Foiled  in  his  first  essay  to  win  over  the  Tsar  to 
a  great  European  combination  to  organise  the 
Old  World  against  the  New,  he  did  not  on  that 
account  abandon  his  favourite  project.  The 
duty  of  first  publicly  proclaiming  in  the  hearing 
of  the  world  the  doctrine  which  the  Kaiser  had 
privately  endeavoured  to  impress  upon  the  Tsar 
fell  upon  Count  Goluchowski,  the  Foreign  Secre- 
tary of  Austria- Hungary.  Addressing  the  Par- 
liamentary Delegations  in  November,  1897,  he 
pleaded  strongly  in  favour  of  the  adoption  of  a 
pacific  policy  in  Europe  if  for  no  other  reason 
than  that  the  very  existence  of  the  European 
peoples  depended  upon  their  power  to  defend 
themselves,  fighting  shoulder  to  shoulder,  against 
Transoceanic  competition.  He  foreshadowed 
the  adoption  of  counteracting  measures,  which 
he  declared  must  be  prompt  and  thorough  in 
order  to  protect  the  vital  interests  of  the  Euro- 
pean nations.  Count  Goluchowski's  alarming 
summons  to  the  Old  World  excited  considerable 
discussion,  but  led  to  no  definite  result  for  some 
years. 

Meantime  the  Kaiser  continued  to  look 
with  grave  misgiving  upon  the  increasing  de- 
pendency of  his  people  upon  American  food- 
stuffs. In  the  year  1900  the  exports  from  the 
United  States  to  Germany  were  larger  than  those 
of  any  other  country,  the  figures  being  in  round 
numbers,  from  the  United  States  $243,000,000  ; 
from  Great  Britain,  $200,000,000  ;  from  Russia, 
$171,000,000;  from  Austria,  $172,000,000; 
from  South  America,  $115,000,000.  In  1891 
the  United  States  were  third  on  the  list,  but  in 
ten  years  she  had  distanced  all  competitors,  and 
was ,  easily  first.  Germany  can  no  longer  feed 
her  own  population  with  her  own  foodstuffs — a 


fact  which  is  of  vital  importance  from  the  point 
of  view  of  a  possible  war.  In  1900  she  had  to 
import  close  upon  1,000,000  tons  of  wheat  and 
800,000  tons  of  rye.  The  population  of  Germany 
stands  now  at  about  60,000,000.  Taking, 
therefore,  the  staples  of  life,  wheat  and  rye  alone, 
nine  millions  of  Germans  would  starve  unless 
the  insufficient  yield  of  German  farms  were 
supplemented  by  the  importation  of  foodstuffs, 
which  in  the  next  twelve  months  it  is  estimated 
will  entail  an  expenditure  of  $100,000,000  ;  or, 
in  other  words,  all  Germany  would  be  without 
food  for  fifty-five  days  in  the  year  but  for  imports 
from  abroad.  This  dependence  upon  the 
foreigner,  especially  upon  American  food,  is  very 
distasteful  to  the  Kaiser.  Of  the  $1,438,000,000 
worth  of  goods  imported  into  Germany  in  the 
year  1900,  $287,000,000  came  from  Great 
Britain,  $243,000,000  from  the  United  States, 
and  $115,000,000  from  South  America.  So 
that  very  nearly  one-half  the  total  imports  into 
Germany  came  either  from  the  New  World  or 
from  the  British  Empire.  The  dependence  of 
Germany  for  her  daily  bread  on  shipments  from 
over-sea  contributed  greatly  to  strengthen  the 
Kaiser's  decision  to  double  the  German  navy. 
"  Our  future,"  he  declared,  "  lies  upon  the  sea." 
The  decision  to  double  the  strength  of  the  Ger- 
man fighting  fleet  was  significantly  proclaimed  in 
the  ears  of  the  world  immediately  after  the  three- 
fold defeat  of  British  arms  in  South  Africa  had 
severely  shaken  our  prestige.  That  the  new 
shipbuilding  policy  then  announced  by  Germany 
was  aimed  against  Great  Britain  was  generally 
recognised  abroad ;  but  when  the  German  Em- 
peror visited  London  shortly  afterwards  he  had 
a  very  different  explanation  to  give  of  the 
increase  of  the  German  fleet.  So  far  from  being 
a  menace  to  Great  Britain,  he  is  said  to  have 
protested,  he  regarded  every  new  ship  added 
to  the  German  navy  as  an  addition  to  the  fight- 
ing force  of  the  British  fleet.  For,  he  argued, 
it  was  inevitable  that  the  United  States,  sooner  or 
later,  would  endeavour  to  grasp  the  supreme  posi- 
tion on  the  sea  at  present  hel(f  by  Great  Britain. 
When  that  day  came  Great  Britain  would  find  in 
the  German  Fleet  her  most  potent  ally.  The 
nations  of  the  Old  World,  representing  culture 
and  civilisation,  would  have  to  stand  shoulder  to 
shoulder  in  resisting  the  contemplated  attack  of 
the  new  barbarians  of  the  Western  World,  who, 
swollen  by  prosperity  and  pride  and  imweighted 
by  any  of  the  responsibilities  which  enforce 
caution  on  other  States,  would  inevitably  come 
into  collision  sooner  or  later  with  the  present 
Mistress  of  the  Seas. 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  this  pretext,  it  was 
an  ingenious  piece  of  special  pleading,  and  it 
helped  him  to  gloss  over  the  ugly  significance 
of  his  naval  programme.      After  the  departure 


TRESIUENT  fJAMES    MONROE. 
Originator  of'the  Monroe  Doctrine. 


Mr.  OLNEY. 

Mr.  Cleveland's  Secretary  of  State. 


PRESIDENT  CLEVELAND. 


\           ^^ 

^^ 

I                ' 

f 

\ 

/ 

EUROPE  AND  AMERICA  COMPARED. 


70 


The  Americanisation  of  the  World. 


of  the  Kaiser  from  England  little  was  heard  of 
his  anti-American  views  until  last  July,  when 
M.  Pierre  de  Segur  was  entertained  by  the 
Kaiser,  along  with  other  French  tourists,  on 
board  the  Hohmzollern  when  it  was  in  Nor- 
wegian waters.  The  interview  seems  to  have 
been  purely  accidental.  M.  de  Segur  and  his 
cotnpagnons  de  voyage  were  visiting  one  of  the 
Norwegian  fiords  when  they  came  across  the 
Imperial  yacht,  Hohenzollern.  The  Emperor 
asked  them  to  dine  on  board,  and  after  mar- 
shalling his  guests,  as  a  Commander-in-Chief 
would  marshal  an  Army  Corps,  with  the  voice 
and  gestures  of  an  officer  on  the  parade- 
ground,  he  entered  into  animated  conversation 
with  them,  in  which  he  appears  to  have  ex- 
pressed himself  with  a  degree  of  freedom 
unwonted  even  for  him.  His  conversation  with 
his  French  guests,  wrote  M.  de  Segur  in  the 
Revue  de  Paris,  was  chiefly  about  the  United 
States  of  America.  He  evinces  but  slight 
enthusiasm  for  that  country.  To  him  there  is 
a  menace  for  the  future  in  the  colossal  Trusts 
so  dear  to  the  Yankee  millionaire,  which  tend 
to  place  an  industry  or  an  international  ex- 
change in  the  hands  of  a  single  individual 
or  a  group  of  individuals.  "  Suppose,"  he 
said,  in  substance,  "that  a  Morgan  succeeds 
in  combining  under  his  flag  several  of  the 
oceanic  lines.  He  does  not  occupy  any 
official  position  in  his  country  outside  of 
the  influence  derived  from  his  wealth.  It 
would,  therefore,  be  impossible  to  treat  with 
him  if  it  should  happen  that  an  international 
incident  or  a  foreign  power  were  involved  in 
his  enterprise.  And  neither  would  it  be  pos- 
sible to  have  recourse  to  the  State,  which 
having  no  part  in  the  business  could  decline  any 
responsibility.  Then  to  whom  could  one  turn  ? 
To  obviate  this  danger  the  Kaiser  foresees  the 
necessity  of  forming  a  European  Customs  Union 
against  the  United  States  on  similar  lines  to  the 
Continental  blockade  devised  by  Napoleon 
against  England,  in  order  to  safeguard  the 
interests  and  assure  the  freedom  of  Continental 
commerce  at  the  expense  of  America's  develop- 
ment. And  he  declared  to  us  without  circum- 
locution that,  in  such  an  eventuality,  England 
would  be  forced  to  choose  the  alternative  of 
two  absolutely  opposite  policies  :  either  to  ad- 
here to  the  blockade  and  place  herself  on  the 
side  of  Europe  against  the  United  States,  or 
else  to  join  the  latter  against  the  Powers  of  the 
Continent." 

So  remarkable  a  declaration,  even  when  pub- 
lished in  a  literary  and  political  organ  of  the 
importance  of  the  Revue  de  Paris,  was  naturally 
received  with  scepticism,  and  the  Ne%v  York 
Herald  despatched  a  commissioner  to  Berlin  to 
ascertain  whether  or  not  the  German  Govern- 


ment was  prepared  to  disclaim,  contradict,  or 
explain  away  the  report  of  M.  de  Segur.  The 
American  Ambassador  in  Germany,  Dr.  Von 
Helleben,  professed  confidence  that  the  German 
Foreign  Office  could  easily  explain  away  the 
alleged  utterances  of  the  Kaiser;  but  when 
application  was  made  to  the  Foreign  Office,  the 
officials  could  only  say  that  the  matter  was  one 
entirely  personal  to  the  Kaiser.  A  somewhat 
interesting  interview  seems  to  have  taken  place 
between  the  representative  of  the  Foreign  Office 
and  the  Heralds  commissioner,  the  latter  naively 
remarking  that  the  German  official  gave  him 
the  impression  that  he  did  not  grasp  the  im- 
portance of  public  opinion  in  the  United  States, 
but  did  deem  it  important  to  lay  down  with 
some  emphasis  the  right  of  Germany  to  interfere 
in  South  American  affairs  should  occasion  arise. 
Whenever  any  of  the  southern  republics  gave 
offence  to  Germany,  said  the  Foreign  Office 
official,  that  country  would  send  her  warships 
there  to  exact  justice,  and  would  insist  upon 
her  right  so  to  act.  Being  reminded  that  this 
was  not  the  question  under  discussion,  he 
answered  that  the  reply  would  probably  be 
forthcoming  from  higher  quarters.  The  answer 
came  in  the  shape  of  an  official  communication 
by  the  German  Ambassador  on  his  return  to 
Washington  when  he  was  authorised  to  declare 
that  "All  talk  that  his  Majesty"  (the  Kaiser) 
"  desires  to  bring  the  European  nations  together 
in  a  challenge  of  America's  progress  in  the 
commercial  world  is  without  foundation.  My 
sovereign,"  the  Ambassador  said,  "  has  the 
most  frank  admiration  for  America's  progress 
and  the  most  cordial  and  friendly  feelings  for 
the  United  States.  His  Majesty  has  shown 
once  more  how  he  appreciates  American  skill 
and  workmanship  in  having  a  yacht  built  in 
the  United  States."  Nevertheless  what  M.  de 
Segur  says  coincides  too  much  with  what  the 
Emperor  is  known  to  have  proposed  to  the 
Tsar,  and  the  general  tenor  of  his  conversation 
in  this  country,  for  us  to  have  much  reason  to 
regard  the  French  author's  report  as  incorrect. 

The  reference  to  Mr.  Morgan  and  the  consoli- 
dation of  industries  under  the  Trust  system  only 
indicates  that  the  Emperor  is  keen  to  snatch  at 
any  and  every  development  of  American  enter- 
prise or  American  ambition  in  order  to  emphasise 
the  reality  of  the  American  danger,  to  insist  upon 
the  necessity  of  concerted  European  action. 
When  he  was  in  London  the  talk  was  not  of 
offering  England  the  alternative  to  join  in  the 
European  blockade  of  the  United  States,  or  to 
be  herself  subjected  to  the  pains  and  penalties 
of  a  financial  war.  When  he  was  here  his  talk 
was  all  about  the  probable  attack  by  the  United 
States  upon  the  naval  supremacy  of  Great 
Britain.     But   in   his    conversation    upon    the 


Europe. 


71 


HoJunzollern  he  appears  to  have  harped  back  to 
the  idea  which  he  propounded  in  St.  Petersburg, 
and  which  inspired  Count  Goluchowsky  with  the 
idea  of  taking  counteracting  measures  to  safe- 
guard the  vital  interests  of  European  industry. 
Since  that  time  the  Germans  and  Austrians  have 
been  busily  engaged  in  discussing  what  measures 
they  ought  to  adopt.  That  something  should 
be  done  seems  to  be  taken  for  granted.  On  the 
23rd  of  October,  1901,  the  representatives  of 
industry  and  agriculture  in  Austria  held  an  im- 
portant meeting,  under  the  benediction  of  the 
Austrian  Government,  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
sidering the  most  effective  means  of  averting 
the  danger  of  American  competition  in  all 
branches  of  production.  Dr.  Peetz  declared  that 
the  United  States  were  aiming  at  universal 
economic  supremacy ;  that  Austria-Hungary 
must,  therefore,  in  all  circumstances  secure  the 
home  market  for  native  industry  and  agriculture, 
while  maintaining  as  far  as  possible  the  open- 
ings for  export.  After  a  good  deal  of  vigorous 
oratory,  in  which  American  economic  methods 
were  somewhat  severely  denounced,  a  resolution 
was  unanimously  adopted  which  contained  the 
following  four  specific  recommendations : — 
"  (i.)  That  there  should  be  a  complete  revision 
of  the  Austro-Hungarian  Customs  tariff  on  the 
lines  laid  down  by  Germany,  in  order  to  afford 
equal,  effective,  and  permanent  protection  to 
industry  and  agriculture.  (2.)  That  a  recipro- 
city arrangement  should  be  substituted  for  the 
general  application  of  the  most-favoured-nation 
clause  in  future  commercial  treaties.  (3.)  That 
while  treaties  for  longer  periods  may  be  con- 
cluded with  other  countries  when  they  afford 
adequate  protection  to  native  production  and 
export  trade,  those  with  the  United  States  and 
the  Argentine  Confederation  should  only  be  for 
short  terms.  (4.)  That  the  Central  European 
States  should  enter  into  an  agreement  for 
mutual  protection  against  transoceanic  com- 
petition." 

Austria,  it  was  declared  by  the  semi-official 
Fremdenblatt,  was  the  youngest  and  weakest  of 
the  industrial  States,  and  as  such  suffered  more 
from  American  competition  than  any  of  her 
neighbours.  The  watchword  "America  for  the 
Americans"  must  be  answered  by  the  rallying 
cry  "  Europe  for  the  Europeans,"  said  the 
Frcmdenblatt.  "  Africa  and  Asia  constitute  the 
European  reserves,  and  we  shall  know  how  to 
defend  ourselves,  but  we  must  set  about  it  in 
time  and  make  a  beginning." 

In  Berlin  the  German  Industrial  Union  have 
expressed  through  their  Secretary,  Dr.  Wilhelm 
Vendlandt,  their  views  upon  the  subject.  He 
declared  that  the  time  had  come  for  some 
Bismarck  to  rise  up  and  assemble  the  nations 
of    Europe   and   throttle   the   American   peril. 


Europe,  he  argued,  could  perfectly  well  be  inde- 
pendent of  the  American  market.  Russia,  by 
developing  her  cotton  plantations  in  the 
Caucasus,  had  finally  liberated  the  Old  World 
from  dependence  upon  the  New.  "  I  believe," 
he  declared,  "  in  fighting  America  with  the  same 
weapons  of  exclusion  which  America  herself 
has  used  so  remorselessly  and  so  successfully. 
We  propose  to  work  for  an  all  European  Union. 
The  commercial  interests  of  the  hour  are  para- 
mount, and  a  discriminatory  alliance  of  all 
European  Powers,  including  England,  will  be 
the  inevitable  result  of  the  American  invasion." 

This  is  all  very  fine  and  large,  but  what 
does  it  come  to  ?  So  far  it  has  come  to 
nothing.  The  self-sufficing  State  which  pro- 
duces everything  within  its  own  frontiers  lias 
become  an  anachronism  in  the  modern  world. 
Chinese  walls  of  prohibitive  tariffs  are  futile  ex- 
pedients. No  doubt  America  will  find  that 
several  of  the  nations  of  the  Old  World  will 
follow  her  example  and  quote  it  as  ample  justi- 
fication for  an  attempt  to  discriminate  against 
American  goods.  Nothing  can  be  done  before 
1903,  when  the  commercial  treaties  will  come 
up  for  revision,  and  before  1903  a  good  many 
things  may  happen.  But  although  the  Govern- 
ments of  the  Old  World  may  compel  their 
subjects  to  pay  high  prices  for  goods  which 
the  Americans,  if  left  unhindered,  would  supply 
more  cheaply,  they  will  thereby  increase  dis- 
content and  dissatisfaction,  which  will  facilitate 
the  Americanisation  of  Europe.  For  the  higher 
the  tariff,  the  dearer  will  be  food.  Dear 
food  means  misery  in  the  home.  Misery  in 
the  home  means  discontent  in  the  electorate, 
and  discontent  in  the  electorate  means  the 
increase  of  the  motive  force  which  will  seek 
steadily  to  revolutionise  the  Old  World  govern- 
ments on  what  may  be  more  or  less  accurately 
described  as  American  principles. 

Thus  the  action  of  the  Kaiser  and  the  Mrs. 
Partingtons  of  Vienna  is  even  more  futile  than 
the  conduct  of  the  wise  men  of  Borrodaile,  who 
built  a  wall  across  the  mouth  of  their  pass  in 
the  belief  that  they  could  .thereby  prevent  the 
cuckoo  flying  away  with  the  summer.  Their 
policy  exercised  no  influence  upon  the  proces- 
sion of  the  seasons.  But  the  action  of  the  anti- 
American  pan-Europeans  will  directly  accelerate 
the  process  which  they  wish  to  retard. 

Reciprocity,  said  President  McKinley,  in  the 
speech  which  he  delivered  on  the  day  before  he 
was  assassinated,  "reciprocity  is  the  natural 
outcome  of  the  wonderful  industrial  develop- 
ment of  the  United  States  under  the  policy  now 
firmly  established.  If  perchance  some  of  our 
tariffs  are  no  longer  needed  for  revenue,  or  to 
encourage  or  protect  our  industries  at  home, 
why  should  they  not  be  employed  to  extend 


E.  Bieber,  Berlin.'[ 

COUNT    A.    GOLUC.HOWSKI. 
Austrian  Foreign  Minister. 


BAROX  D'ESTOURNELLES  DE  CONSTANT. 


KAISER  WILHELM   II. 


PRINCE  HILKOFF. 
Russian  Minister  of  Railways. 


Etu'ope. 


7Z 


and  promote  our  markets  abroad  ?  "  Three  days 
previously  Mr.  Roosevelt,  then  Vice-President, 
speaking  at  Minneapolis,  declared  that  through 
treaty  or  by  direct  legislation  it  may,  at  least 
in  certain  cases,  become  advantageous  to  supple- 
ment our  present  policy  by  a  system  of  reciprocal 
benefit  and  obligation.  Now  there  are  only  two 
kinds  of  reciprocity.  As  the  Reciprocity  Com- 
missioner-General Kasson  remarked  :  "  there 
is  no  novelty  in  reciprocity.  The  principle  has 
prevailed  in  human  relations  since  the  begin- 
ning of  intercourse  among  men.  Between  indi- 
viduals and  among  nations  it  is  an  exchange  of 
some  right  or  privilege  or  favour  in  exchange 
for  some  right  or  privilege  or  favour  which  the 
other  controls  and  is  willing  to  grant  in  con- 
sideration. It  has  developed  in  two  ways, 
reciprocity  in  favours,  and  reciprocity  in  burdens 
and  prohibitions.  The  former  is  accomplished 
in  the  form  of  mutual  agreement  in  the  form  of 
treaties  and  the  latter  by  legislative  retaliation." 

The  remarkable  thing  about  the  present  situa- 
tion is  that  while  the  trend  of  opinion  in  the 
United  States  is  in  favour  of  the  adoption  of 
reciprocity  in  favours,  the  cry  on  the  Continent 
of  Europe  is  entirely  in  favour  of  reciprocity  by 
burdens  and  prohibitions.  The  chief  safeguard 
which  has  hitherto  protected  the  exporters  of 
the  United  States  from  exclusive  duties  on  the 
part  of  the  European  nations  has  been  the 
existence  of  a  series  of  commercial  treaties  con- 
taining the  most  favoured  nation  clause  which 
expires  in  1903.  At  that  date  the  Austrians 
and  the  Germans,  possibly  the  Italians,  with 
such  other  of  the  European  nations  as  they  can 
induce  to  join  them,  intend  to  see  what  can  be 
done  in  protecting  their  own  industries  by 
applying  a  European  equivalent  of  the  Dingley 
tariff  to  American  goods.  Under  these  circum- 
stances it  is  evident  that  it  will  be  somewhat 
difficult  to  carry  out  the  policy  recommended 
by  Mr.  McKinley.  As  President  Roosevelt 
said,  we  must  remember  that  in  dealing  with 
other  nations,  benefits  must  be  given  while 
benefits  are  sought.  ,  But  if  one  side  offers 
benefits  while  the  other  is  seeking  only  to  inflict 
injuries,  negotiations  are  not  likely  to  progress 
very  rapidly. 

There  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  the 
American  invasion  has  somewhat  scared  Euro- 
peans, nor  is  the  scare  confined  to  Germany 
and  Austria.  When  Prince  Albert  of  Belgium 
returned  from  his  American  trip  in  1898  he  was 
said  to  have  exclaimed  to  an  American  friend  : 
"  Alas  !  you  Americans  will  eat  us  all  up." 
Admiral  Canevaro,  formerly  Italian  Foreign 
Minister,  speaking  at  Toulon  last  April,  remarked 
that  "the  Triple  and  Dual  Alliances  taken 
together  had  given  Europe  thirty  years  of  peace, 
and  he  added  that  this  fact  would  perhaps  lead 


the  European  nations  to  consider  the  possi- 
bility and  the  necessity  of  uniting  against 
America,  as  the  future  of  civilisation  would 
require  them  to  do." 

There  are  few  publicists  so  intelligent 
and  so  liberal  as  Mr.  Paul  Leroy-Beaulieu, 
but  he  is  so  far  under  the  influence  of  the 
menace  from  the  New  World  as  to  have 
declared  himself  specifically  in  favour  of  en- 
deavouring to  realise  a  European  ZoUverein. 
As  Mr.  Sydney  Brooks  pointed  out  in  an  in- 
teresting article  up6n  America  and  Europe, 
which  he  contributed  to  the  Atlantic  Monthly 
for  November,  he  would  not  abolish  customs 
duties  between  the  difterent  States,  but  only 
reduce  them  considerably  by  clearly  defined 
commercial  treaties  concluded  for  a  long  period. 
With  few  exceptions,  he  wrote,  the  maximum 
should  be  12  per  cent.,  and  a  permanent 
European  Customs  Union  should  be  appointed 
with  the  task  of  providing  for  successive  reduc- 
tions of  the  duties,  and  of  establishing  the 
closest  possible  relations  between  the  European 
nations.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  he  declared, 
as  to  the  possibility  of  such  an  arrangement. 
It  is  an  ill  wind  that  blows  nobody  any  good, 
and  it  would  be  a  welcome  result  of  the  present 
scare  as  to  the  American  invasion  if  it  were  to 
force  reluctant  and  jealous  nations  to  take  so 
long  a  stride  in  the  direction  of  federation.  To 
defend  themselves  against  the  United  States  of 
America  these  thinkers  advocate  the  creation  of 
what,  from  a  fiscal  point  of  view,  would  be  the 
United  States  of  Europe. 


Chapter  II. — The  Ottoman  Empire. 

Three  years  ago,  when  I  was  in  Constanti- 
nople, I  excited  considerable  astonishment  by 
declaring  that  nothing  was  more  probable  than 
that  the  United  States  might  be  driven  to  solve 
the  hitherto  insoluble  problem  of  the  ownership 
of  Constantinople.  The  facts  were  simple  and 
the  deduction  obvious,  but  there  is  nothing  that 
many  people  are  so  slow  to  recognise  as  the 
salient  facts  of  a  political  situation.  To-day, 
thanks  to  the  operation  of  a  band  of  brigands 
on  the  Bulgarian  frontier,  the  eyes  of  the  public 
have  been  opened,  and  both  in  Europe  and 
America  the  man  in  the  street  is  talking  of  pos- 
sibilities in  the  Ottoman  Empire  which  then 
seemed  to  lie  outside  the  range  of  practical 
politics. 

The  incident  which  has  produced  so  sudden 
an  awakening  was  the  capture  of  Miss  Stone,  an 
American  missionary.  On  the  2nd  of  September, 
1 90 1,  Miss  Stone,  when  on  her  way  from  the 
little  town  of  Bansko,  in  Bulgaria,  to  Diumania 


74 


The  Aniericaitisation  of  the   World. 


in  Turkey,  crossed  the  frontier  of  Bulgaria  into 
Macedonia,  when  she  was  waylaid  by  a  band  of 
brigands  dressed  in  Turkish  uniforms,  with  the 
red  fez,  and  carried  off  into  the  mountains  to- 
gether with  a  Bulgarian  lady  who  was  one  of  the 
party.     They  were  kept  in  captivity  in  order  to 
extort  a  ransom  of  ;:^2 5,000.     The  incident  of 
an  American  lady  being  held  prisoner  in  the 
Macedonian  mountains  created  a  great  stir  in 
the  United  States.     Newspapers  took  it  up,  and 
subsequently  a  subscription  was  raised  to  provide 
the  money  demanded  as  a  ransom.    The  machi- 
nery  of  diplomacy   was    set   in    motion,   and 
Europe  and  America  found  themselves  face  to 
face  with  a  question  which,  before  it  was  settled, 
threatened  to  involve  the  United  States  in  armed 
intervention  in  Turkey.      In   view   of   such   a 
contingency  people  began  to  ask  how  Miss  Stone 
found  herself  in  such  a  position,  and  then  the 
great  Republic  of  the  West  for  the  first  time 
began  to  realise  the  extent  to  which  the  American 
missions  had  advanced  since  1858.     Their  first 
centre  was  Adrianople,  which  lies  outside  Mace- 
donia.    The  mission  has  now  three  stations  in 
Bulgaria.      The    American    church    has    1500 
members  ;  they  have  churches  also  at  Sofia,  the 
Capital  of  Bulgaria,  at  Salonica  and  at  Monastir. 
Altogether  the  Americans  have  nine  missionaries 
in  Bulgaria  and  Macedonia,  and  seven  American 
lady  teachers.    In  Northern  Bulgaria  the  Ameri- 
can   Methodists    have    eleven  American    and 
native  missionaries.     In  Bulgaria,  the  American 
Board   of  Missionaries  have  established  three 
schools,  for  the  higher  education  of  both  men 
and  women,  and  one  Kindergarten.     They  have 
organised  fifteen  churches   where   services   are 
held  regularly,  besides  twelve  places  of  worship, 
and  about  1500  communicants.     The  church  at 
Bansko,  from  which  Miss  Stone  started  on  the 
journey  which  ended  so  disastrously,  has  150 
members,   and   the  building  cost   ;!<^iooo.     In 
1872  the  Americans  translated  the  Bible  into 
Bulgarian ;   they   established    a   printing-press, 
book-stall,  and  a  free   public  reading-room  in 
Sofia ;  and  they  published  a  weekly  newspaper. 
This  propaganda  of  the  Americans  is  not  very 
popular  among  the  Bulgarians,  who  are  Greek 
Orthodox,   but   the  theological  propaganda   is 
condoned  on  account  of  the  excellent   results 
from  it. 

The  Russians,  of  course,  dislike  it  even  more 
than  the  Bulgarian  Government ;  but  here  again 
the  American  element  intervenes  in  an  un- 
expected quarter.  The  Russian  agent  at  Sofia, 
M.  Bachmetieff,  is  married  to  an  American  wife, 
and  Mme.  Bachmetieff  is  a  great  personal  friend 
of  Miss  Stone's,  so  that  although  from  a  high 
political  point  of  view  M.  Bachmetieff  would  be 
expected  to  oppose  Miss  Stone's  actions,  from 
a  domestic  point  of  view  the  influence  of  Mme. 


Bachmetieff,  exercised  constantly  at  home,  has 
made  the  Russian  agent  a  very  good  friend  and 
warm  supporter  of  the  American  missionary. 
It  is  indeed  difficult  for  any  intelligent  person 
not  to  sympathise  with  the  excellent  work  which 
the  American  missionaries  are  doing  in  those 
regions,  for  the  Americans  have  not  only  done 
the  work  themselves,  they  have  stimulated  the 
Bulgarian  people  to  emulate  their  deeds,  and  to 
establish  similar  institutions.  As  Mr.  W.  E. 
Curtis  says  in  the  admirable  series  of  letters 
which  he  has  contributed  to  the  Chicago  Record- 
Herald,  they  have  laid  the  foundation  of  a 
general  education  system;  they  have  inspired 
a  temperance  movement ;  and  wherever  their 
influence  extends  you  will  find  a  radical  moral 
and  social  change  from  the  conditions  which 
existed  when  independence  was  proclaimed 
twenty-three  years  ago. 

The  most  influential  woman  in  Bulgaria, 
Mrs.  W.  B.  Kossuroth,  was  a  pupil  of  Miss 
Stone's.  She  is  the  first  woman  who  ventured 
to  carry  on  business  on  her  own  account.  She 
was  educated  according  to  American  ideas,  and 
after  the  death  of  her  husband,  she  took  charge 
of  the  business  he  had  left.  Mrs.  Popoff,  the  wife 
of  the  pastor  of  the  Protestant  church  at  Sofia, 
was  educated  at  an  Ohio  seminary.  Hence  it 
was  not  at  all  surprising  that  Miss  Stone  should 
have  sallied  forth  at  the  head  of  a  party  of  village 
students,  among  whom  were  three  young 
Bulgarian  women  whom  she  was  going  to  place 
in  charge  of  schools  in  Macedonia.  The 
brigands,  who  assumed  Turkish  costume  to  avoid 
suspicion,  are  declared  to  have  been  Bulgarian 
brigands,  belonging  to  the  Macedonian  insurrec- 
tionary movement.  They  did  not  molest  the 
women  teachers,  but  they  carried  off  both  Miss 
Stone  and  Mrs.  Tsilka,  whom  they  held  for 
ransom. 

The  immediate  result  of  this  outrage  was  that 
the  attention  of  the  Americans  was  aroused. 
Negotiations  were  at  once  begun,  in  which 
menaces  and  bribes  alike  failed  to  secure  the 
immediate  relief  of  the  captives.  October  and 
November  were  consumed  in  abortive  attempts 
to  secure  the  release  of  Miss  Stone  and  her 
companion.  At  the  beginning  of  December 
she  was  reported  to  have  died  in  the  hands  of 
her  captors.  This  rumoUr  was  contradicted, 
but  up  to  the  lime  of  going  to  press  Miss  Stone 
was  still  in  the  hands  of  the  brigands. 

The  incident  naturally  directed  American 
public  opinion  to  the  state  of  the  Balkan 
Peninsula.  It  familiarised  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States  with  the  permanent  condition  of 
the  Turkish  .provinces,  and  it  reminded  the 
world  of  one  of  the  worst  crimes  perpetrated  by 
European  diplomacy.  The  cry  of  the  men  of 
Macedonia,  "Come  over  and  help   us!"   met 


TJie  Ottoman  Ernpire. 


75 


with  no  response  from  the  British  Government 
of  1878.  The  Russians  had  helped  them.  By 
the  treaty  of  San  Stefano  the  whole  of  what  is 
known  as  "  Big  Bulgaria,"  from  the  Danube  to 
the  ^gean,  was  liberated  from  the  blighting 
despotism  of  the  Turks.  At  the  Berlin  Congress, 
at  the  instance  of  Britain  and  Austria,  Mace- 
donia was  cut  off  from  free  Bulgaria  and  thrust 
back  into  slavery  to  enjoy  the  uncovenanted 
mercies  of  the  Turk.  Of  all  the  crimes  per- 
petrated at  the  Berlin  Congress,  this  was  the 
worst  A  sop  was  given  to  the  conscience  of 
Europe  by  inserting  Article  23  into  the  treaty 
of  Berlin,  to  secure  to  the  populations  of  Mace- 
donia and  other  Balkan  provinces  the  right 
of  self-government.  Unfortunately,  as  usually 
happens  in  such  cases,  the  article  remained  a 
dead  letter.  The  European  Powers  agreed 
what  ought  to  be  done,  and  even  went  so  far 
as  to  draw  up  an  organic  constitution  for  the 
government  of  Macedonia,  but  nothing  effective 
was  done  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the 
Treaty. 

What  the  result  of  the  capture  of  the  Ameri- 
can lady  missionary  will  be  ij:  is  impossible  to 
predict.  Miss  Stone  may  be  liberated  before 
these  pages  see  print,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  she 
may  be  sacrificed,  owing  to  the  alarm  excited 
in  the  minds  of  her  captors  at  being  punished 
for  their  crime.  In  either  case  the  Americans 
will  be  compelled  sooner  or  later  to  take  the 
matter  up  seriously.  If  the  brigands  get  their 
money,  the  profit  that  they  have  made  upon 
this  transaction  will  encourage  them  to  develop 
and  extend  the  kidnapping  business.  More 
American  missionaries  will  be  caught,  and  held 
prisoners  to  be  ransomed,  and  thus  the  Ameri- 
can Government  may  be  forced  to  take  action. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  Miss  Stone  is  killed,  the 
Macedonian  question  will  at  once  be  raised — 
who  can  say  with  what  consequences  ? 

It  is  not  necessary  in  this  isurvey  of  the 
Americanisation  of  the  World  to  speculate 
further  upon  the  part  which  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States  have  played  in  the  recent  history 
of  the  Ottoman  Empire.  I  described  this  at 
some  length  in  the  book  which  I  wrote  in  1899, 
entitled  "The  United  States  of  Europe."  I 
take  the  liberty,  however,  of  reproducing  here 
its  salient  passages. 

Thirty  years  ago  a  couple  of  Americans, 
Christian  men,  with  heads  on  their  shoulders, 
settled  in  Turkey  and  set  about  teaching  on 
American  methods  the  rising  youth  of  the  East 
in  an  institution  called  the  Robert  College. 
They  have  never  from  that  day  to  this  had  at 
their  command  a  greater  income  than  30,000 
dols.  or  40,000  dols.  a  year.  They  have  insisted 
that  every  student  within  their  walls  shall  be 
thoroughly  trained  on  the  American  principles. 


MISS    STONE. 

which,  since  they  were  imported  by  the  men 
of  the  Mayflower,  liave  well-nigh  made  the  tour 
of  the  world.  That  was  their  line,  and  they 
have  stuck  to  it  now  for  thirty  years. 

With  what  result  ?  That  American  College  is 
to-day  the  chief  hope  of  the  future  of  the 
millions  who  inhabit  the  Sultan's  dominions. 
They  have  200  students  in  the  college  to-day, 
but  they  have  trained  and  sent  out  into  the 
world  thousands  of  bright,  brainy  young  fellows, 
who  have  carried  the  leaven  of  the  American 
town  meeting  into  all  provinces  of  the  Ottoman 
Empire. 

The  one  great  thing  done  in  the  making  of 
States  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  century  was  the 
creation  of  the  Bulgarian  Principality.  But  the 
Bulgarian  Principality,  the  resurrection  of  the 
Bulgarian  nationality,  although  materially 
achieved  by  the  sword  of  the  liberating  and 
avenging  hordes  of  Russia,  was  due  primarily 
to  the  Robert  College.  It  was  the  Americans 
who  sowed  the  seed.  It  was  the  men  of  Robert 
College  who  took  into  Bulgaria  the  glad  news  of 
a  good  time  coming  when  Bulgaria  would  be  free. 
And  when  the  Russian  Army  of  liberation  re- 
turned home  after  the  peace  was  signed  it  passed 
down  the  Bosphorus,  and  as  each  huge  transport, 
crowded  with  the  war-worn  vetei-ans  of  the 
Balkan  battlefields,  steamed  past  the  picturesque 
Crag  of  Roumeli  Hissar,  on  which  the  Robert 
College  sits  enthroned,  the  troops  one  and  all 
did  homage  to  the  institution  which  had  made 
Bulgaria  possible,  by  cheering  lustily  and  causing 
the  military  bands  to  play  American  airs.  It 
was  the  tribute  of  the  artificers  in  blood  and 


76 


The  Americanisation  of  the   World. 


iron  to  the  architects  on  whose  designs  they  had 
builded  tlie  Bulgarian  State. 

But  the  influence  of  the  American  College 
did  not  stop  there.  When  the  Constitutional 
Assembly  met  at  Tirnova  to  frame  the  con- 
stitution for  the  new-bom  State,  it  was  the 
Robert  College  graduates  who  succeeded  in 
giving  the  new  constitution  its  extreme  demo- 
cratic character ;  and  when,  after  the  Russians 
left,  the  Bulgarians  began  to  do  their  own 
governing,  it  was  again  the  American-trained 
men  who  displayed  the  spirit  of  independence 
which  bafllled  and  angered  the  Russian  generals. 
From  that  time  to  now — when  I  visited  Sofia 
one  Robert  College  man  was  Prime  Minister  of 
Bulgaria  and  another  was  Bulgarian  Minister  at 
Constantinople,  while  a  third,  one  of  the  ablest 
of  them,  was  Bulgarian  Minister  at  Athens — the 
Robert  College  has  been  a  nursery  for  Bulgarian 
statesmen.  So  marked  indeed  has  been  the 
influence  of  this  one  institution,  there  are  some 
who  say  that  of  all  the  results  of  the  Crimean 
War  nothing  was  of  such  permanent  importance 
as  the  one  fact  that  it  attracted  to  Constanti- 
nople a  plain  American  citizen  from  New  York. 

The  influence  of  the  United  States  in  the 
East  is  by  no  means  confined  to  Robert  College. 
There  are  other  institutions  founded  by  Ameri- 
cans at  Constantinople  which  are  working  quite 
as  well  as  the  Robert  College;  but  as  they 
educate  girls  instead  of  boys,  they  will  not  make 
their  political  influence  felt  until  the  sons  of  the 
students  come  to  man's  estate.  But  it  is  not 
only  in  Constantinople  Americans  are  at  work. 
They  are  at  the  present  moment  almost  the  only 
people  who  are  doing  any  good  for  humanity  in 
Asiatic  Turkey. 

How  many  American  citizens  are  aware,  I 
wonder,  that  from  the  slopes  of  Mount  Ararat 
all  the  way  to  the  shores  of  the  blue  .^gean  sea 
American  missionaries  have  scattered  broadcast 
over  all  the  distressful  land  the  seeds  of  American 
principles  ?  The  Russians  know  it,  and  regard 
the  fact  with  anything  but  complacency.  When 
General  Mossouloff,  the  director  of  the  foreign 
faiths  within  the  Russian  Empire,  visited  Etch- 
miadzin,  in  the  confines  of  Turkish  Armenia, 
the  Armenian  patriarch  spread  before  him  a 
map  of  Asia  Minor  which  was  marked  all  over 
with  American  colleges,  American  churches, 
American  schools  and  American  missions.  They 
are  busy  everywhere,  begetting  new  life  in  these 
Asiatic  races.  They  stick  to  their  Bible  and 
their  spelling-book,  but  every  year  an  increasing 
number  of  Armenians  and  other  Orientals  issue 
from  the  American  schools  familiar  with  the 
principles  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
and  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  American 
constitution.  And  so  the  leaven  is  spreading 
throughout  the  whole  land. 


Of  course,  such  new  wine  could  not  be  poured 
into  the  very  old  bottles  of  the  Turkish  pro- 
vinces without  making  itself  felt.  The  Arme- 
nians, a  thrifty  and  studious  race,  soon  became 
"  swell-headed."  What  Bulgarians  had  done 
they  thought  Armenians  could  do.  As  the 
Robert  College  men  had  created  an  indepen- 
dent Bulgaria,  they,  in  turn,  would  show  that 
they  could  create  an  independent  Armenia.  So 
they  set  to  work ;  but,  alas !  though  they  did 
their  part  of  the  work  bravely  enough,  Russia, 
this  time,  was  in  no  mood  to  come  to  their 
rescue.  So  the  Sultan  fell  upon  them  in  his 
wTath  and  delivered  them  over  to  the  Eashi- 
Bazouk  and  the  Kurd.  What  followed  is  written 
in  letters  of  blood  and  fire  across  the  recent 
history  of  the  East. 

But  the  end  is  not  yet.  The  American 
missionaries,  who  took  no  part  in  the  abortive 
insurrection,  were  not  as  a  rule  much  molested. 
They  are  working  on,  teaching,  preaching, 
sowing  the  seed  day  by  day,  creating  the  forces 
which  will  in  time  overturn  the  Turkish  Govern- 
ment and  regenerate  Armenia.  The  Turk  knows 
it,  and  is  longing  for  the  time  when  he  may  have 
it  out  with  the  giaour  from  beyond  the  sea. 
But  behind  the  American  missionary  stands  the 
British  consul,  and  the  Sultan  fears  to  give  the 
signal  for  extirpation,  (^ong  ago,  when  I  was  a 
boy,  I  remember  being  much  impressed  with  a 
passage  in  Cobden's  political  writings,  in  which, 
after  describing  the  desolation  that  prevailed 
in  the  Garden  of  the  East  owing  to  the 
blighting  despotism  of  the  Turks,  he  asked 
whether  it  would  not  be  enormously  for  the 
benefit  of  the  world  in  general,  and  of  British 
trade  in  particular,  if  the  whole  of  the  region 
now  blighted  by  the  presence  of  the  Turk  could 
be  handed  over  to  an  American  syndicate  or 
company  of  New  England  merchants,  who 
would  be  entrusted  with  the  administration  of 
the  country,  with  instructions  to  run  it  on  busi- 
ness principles.  "Who  can  doubt,"  said  the 
great  free-trader,  "  that  if  such  an  arrangement 
could  be  made,  before  long  the  desert  would 
blossom  as  a  rose?  Great  centres  of  busy 
industry  would  arise  in  territories  that  were  at 
one  time  the  granary  and  treasury  of  the  world." 
This  beatific  vision  of  Manchester-dom  has 
never  ceased  to  haunt  my  memor}'.  But  until 
recent  times,  I  have  never  seen  how  this  ex- 
cellent American  syndicate  was  to  get  Turkey 
into  its  pocket.  Gradually,  however,  with  the 
decay  of  Turkish  authority,  with  the  expansion 
of  American  ambitions,  and  above  all,  with  the 
development  of  the  American  fleet,  Cobden's 
dream  seems  to  me  to  be  in  a  fair  way  of  being 
realised. 

It  seems  to  me  the  most  natural  thing  in  the 
world  that  some  fine  day  there  will  be  one  of 


The  Ottoman  Empire. 


n 


those  savage  outbreaks  of  religious  or  imperial 
fanaticism  which  will  lead  some  unhanged  ruffian 
who  has  been  decorated  by  the  Sultan,  or  some 
Kurdish  chief,  to  take  it  into  his  head  to  avenge 
the  wrongs  of  Islam  on  the  nearest  American 
mission  station.  He  will  sweep  down  at  the 
head  of  his  troops  upon  a  school  or  manse. 
The  building  will  be  given  to  the  flames,  the 
American  missionary  will  be  flung  into  the 
burning  building  to  perish  in  the  fire,  while  his 
wife  and  daughters  will  be  carried  off"  to  the 
harem  of  some  pasha.  Nothing  could  be  more 
natural  or  more  in  accordance  with  the  ordinary 
practice  in  these  savage  regions.  There  is  no 
available  force  to  defend  the  American  settlers 
from  their  assailants.  In  these  remote  dis- 
tricts it  is  often  possible  to  conceal  a  crime  for 
months  by  the  very  completeness  with  which 
the  victims  have  been  extirpated.  But,  of 
course,  after  a  time,  whether  it  be  weeks  or 
whether  it  be  months,  the  fate  of  that  mission 
station  would  be  known.  The  story  of  the 
great  massacre,  when  the  missionary  was  burned 
alive  in  his  own  flaming  school-house,  would 
leak  out,  and  then,  in  the  natural  course  of 
things,  some  enterprising  newspaper  man  would 
make  his  way  to  the  scene  of  the  outrage,  would 
verify  the  facts,  would  ascertain  the  where- 
abouts of  the  unfortunate  American  women, 
and  possibly  return  to  the  outside  world  bear- 
ing with  him  a  pathetic  and  urgent  appeal 
from  the  captives  for  rescue  from  a  Turkish 
harem. 

This  outrage,  after  all,  is  nothing  more  than 
the  kind  of  thing  to  which  the  Christian  races 
of  the  East  have  had  to  submit  from  generation 
to  generation.  The  victims  have  been  as  white, 
as  Christian,  and  as  wretched  as  those  whose 
imaginary  doom  at  the  hands  of  the  Turk  or 
Kurd  I  have  been  describing.  But  in  the  latter 
case  the  girls,  with  their  devoted  mother,  who 
may  be  subjected  to  the  worst  outrage  at  the 
hands  of  their  captors,  would  differ  from  the 
Armenians  in  that  they  speak  English.  That 
one  difference  would  be  vital.  On  the  day  on 
which  that  smart  newspaper  man  wrote  out  his 
story  of  the  fate  of  those  American  women — 
wrote  it  out  in  vivid  characters,  bright  and  clear 
before  the  eyes  of  the  whole  English-speaking 
race — the  doom  of  the  Ottoman  Empire  would 
be  sealed. 

There  are  eighty  millions  of  human  beings  in 
the  United  States,  most  of  whom  speak  English, 
and  each  one  of  whom  would  feel  that  the  im- 
prisoned women  were  even  as  his  own  sisters. 
On  the  day  on  which  the  news  of  their  incarcera- 
tion and  outrage  reached  the  Christian  Republic 
of  the  West,  the  whole  of  the  eighty  millions 
who  inhabit  the  invulnerable  fortress  which 
Nature  has  established  between  the  fosses  of  the 


Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  would  start  to  their  feet 
as  one  man,  and  from  the  whole  continent 
would  rise  but  one  question  and  one  imperative 
command.  The  question  would  be  :  Where  is 
Dewey  ?  Where  is  Sampson  ?  Where  are  our 
invincible  ironclads,  which  in  two  battles  swept 
the  flag  of  Spain  from  the  seas  ?  Why  are  our 
great  captains  roosting  round  upon  their  battle- 
ships, while  such  horrors  are  inflicted  upon 
women  from  America  ?  "  And  after  that  inquiry 
would  come  quick  and  sharp  the  imperious 
mandate :  "To  the  Dardanelles !  To  the 
Dardanelles  I " 

In  three  weeks  the  commanders  who  shattered 
the  Spanish  fleet  at  Manila,  and  drove  the  iron- 
clads of  Admiral  Cervera  in  blazing  ruin  upon 
the  coast  of  Cuba,  would  appear  oft"  the  Darda- 
nelles to  exact  instant  and  condign  punish- 
ment for  the  outrage  inflicted  upon  American 
women. 

Nor  would  they  stop  at  the  Dardanelles.  The 
Stars  and  Stripes  would  soon  fly  over  the  waters 
of  the  Sea  of  Marmora,  and  the  thunder  of  the 
American  guns  would  sound  the  death-knell  of 
the  Ottoman  dynasty.  No  power  on  earth 
would  be  able  to  arrest  the  advance  of  the 
American  ships,  nor,  indeed,  is  there  any  Power 
in  Europe  that  would  even  attempt  to  do  so. 
The  patience  of  Christendom  has  long  been 
almost  worn  out,  and  Europe  would  probably 
maintain  an  expectant  attitude  while  the  death- 
blow was  struck  at  the  crumbling  relics  of  the 
Ottoman  Power. 

When  the  Sultan  had  fled  from  Stamboul, 
leaving  his  capital  to  the  violence  of  the  mob^ 
the  Americans,  to  save  Constantinople  from  the 
fate  of  Alexandria,  would  be  compelled  to 
occupy  the  city  of  Constantine,  and,  as  our 
experience  has  long  shown,  it  is  much  easier  to 
occupy  than  it  is  to  evacuate.  Every  day  that 
the  Stars  and  Stripes  floated  over  the  gates  of 
the  Euxine  would  tend  to  familiarise  Europe 
with  the  idea  that,  of  all  possible  solutions,  the 
indefinite  occupation  of  Constantinople  by  the 
Americans  might  be  open  to  fewer  objections 
than  any  other  conceivable  solution.  Thus,  at 
any  moment,  owing  to  what  may  be  regarded  as 
a  normal  incident  in  the  methods  of  Ottoman 
misrule,  Cobden's  dream  might  be  fulfilled,  and 
the  great  Republic  of  the  West  become  the 
agent  for  restoring  prosperity  and  peace  to  the 
desolated  East 

To  this  vision  of  things  to  come  I  have  little 
'  to  add  to-day.  But  I  may  remind  English 
readers  who  know  little  or  nothing  concerning 
the  extent  to  which  the  Americans  have  entered 
the  missionary  field  that  there  are  more  com- 
municants in  connection  with  the  churches 
founded  by  the  American  missionaries  than 
there    are   in   connection    with    the    churches 


78 


TJie  Aiuej'icaiiisation  of  the   World. 


founded  by  missionaries  sent  out  by  the  United 
Kingdom.  The  Americans  are  behind  us  in 
the  total  amount  of  money  raised  every  year, 
but  they  have  more  communicants  and  more 
native  adherents  and  more  Sunday-schools. 
The  figures  extracted  from  the  report  of  the 
CEcumenical  Conference  of  Missionaries  held  in 
New  York  two  or  three  years  ago  are  very 
striking.     They  are  as  follows  : — 

Statistics  of  Amkrican  and  English  Societies 
directly  engaged  in  conducting  foreign 
Missions. 

United  United 

States.  Kingdom. 

Number  of  Societies    ...  49  54 

Income  Total $5,403,04$     $8,266,374 

Ordained  Missionaries.      .      .  1352  1984 
^,     .  •         (Men   ....  160  20s 
Physicians  -^^Vomen    ...  114  74 
Lay  Missionaries,  not  Physi- 
cians (Men) 109  765 

Married   \Vomen,  not    Physi- 
cians    1274  1 148 

Unmarried       Women,       not 

Physicians     .      .      .      .      .  1006  1 668 

Total  of  Foreign  Missionaries   -  41 10  5937 

Ordained  Natives  ....  1575  1729 

Unordained  Native  Workers .  15.013  29,779 

Total  of  Native  Helpers  .      .  16,605  31,740 

Stations 7321  I5>5"6 

Organised  Churches     .      .      .  4107  5100 

Communicants 421,597  326,979 

Sunday  Schools      ....  7231  3817 

Sunday  School  Membership  .  344,385  213,935 

Native  Contributions  .  .  .  $628,717  $797,355 
Native    Christians,    including 

Non-Communicants.      .      .  1,257,425  1,204,033 

The  missionaries  of  the  English-speaking 
world  exceed  in  number  those  of  all  the  other 
Protestant  nations  put  together.  They  can  only 
be  compared  with  those  who  are  sent  out  by 
the  Church  of  Rome.  The  parallel  and  con- 
trast between  the  English-speaking  race  and  the 
Church  of  Rome  is  of  world-wide  interest  and 
very  suggestive,  for,  to  use  Mr.  Gladstone's 
phrase,  our  race  "  may  almost  claim  to  constitute 
a  kind  of  universal  Church  in  politics." 

On  the  continent  of  Africa  the  Americans 
have  as  yet  hardly  laid  their  iiand.  They  have 
had  their  share  in  punitive  expeditions  against 
the  Moslem  on  tlie  north  coast  They  origin- 
ated the  colony  of  freed  negroes  on  the  west 
coast  which  subsequently  developed  into  the 
Republic  of  Liberia.  An  American  consul  in 
Egypt  by  sheer  bluff  secured  for  the  United 
States  a  pla<^  among  the  Powers  charged  with 
the  control  of  the  International  Tribunals.  The 
Methodist  Episcopalians  of  the  United  States 
have  created  the  whole  African  continent  into 
one  vast  bishopric  and  placed  it  under  Bishop 
Hartzell.  Here  and  there  all  over  the  continent 
American  missionaries  are  to  be  found  labouring 
for  the  conversion  of  the  heathen.  But  the 
Americans  are  only  pecking  at  Africa  yet     Not 


until  Booker  Washington  and  his  like  create  an 
educated  race  of  American  blacks  will  the 
Americanisation  of  Africa  really  begin. 


Chapter  III. — ^Asia. 

The  Americans  are  changing  so  many  of  the 
currently  accepted  ideas  of  the  other  peoples, 
that  an  Englishman  may  be  pardoned  a  certain 
degree  of  satisfaction  when  he  finds  that  in  one 
very  important  matter  the  Americans  have 
adopted  English  ideas.  Until  quite  recently  the 
Americans  as  a  whole  were  under  the  influence 
of  the  ancient  fallacy  which  dominated  the 
mind  of  Mr.  Gladstone, — that  the  sea  was  still 
a  divider  and  not  a  uniter  of  nations.  A  State 
across  which  you  could  walk  from  end  to  end, 
without  any  need  of  taking  ship  when  passing 
from  province  to  province,  was  held  by  them  to 
be  something  altogether  superior  to  a  State 
whose  highways  were  the  oceans.  The  very 
existence  of  the  British  Empire  was  due  to  the 
fact  that  this  doctrine  was  fallacious,  but  Mr. 
Gladstone  to  the  end  of  his  life  never  succeeded 
in  emancipating  himself  from  its  influence.  The 
Americans  have  only  just  begun  to  realise  that 
they  also  may  hope  to  adopt  the  proud  boast  of 
their  British  forefathers,  and  declare  that  the 
frontiers  of  the  United  States  extend  to  the 
coastline  of  her  enemies  and  rivals.  Once 
having  abandoned  their  old  position,  they  seem 
to  be  animated  by  the  proverbial  zeal  of  the 
new  disciple ;  and  from  shrinking  ner\  ously  from 
wetting  their  feet  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  they 
have  now  boldly  plunged  across  the  wide  Pacific, 
and  have  established  themselves  off  the  Asiatic 
coast. 

Their  advance  across  that  ocean  has  been  very 
rapid.  It  began  without  any  notion  on  the  part 
of  the  American  people  of  what  was  going  to 
happen.  The  missionaries  were, as  usual  the 
pioneers  first  of  trade  and  then  of  political 
dominion.  The  process  was  uniform.  The 
missionaries  in  the  Sandwich  Islands  and  Samoa 
laboured  to  teach  the  native  population  the 
blessings  of  Christianity  j  then  came  the  trader, 
who  introduced  them  to  the  blessings  of  com- 
merce, and  after  the  trader  came  the  adminis- 
trator, who  hoisted  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  and 
conferred  upon  the  islanders  the  blessings  of 
being  allowed  to  stand  on  the  threshold  of  the 
American  Constitution  without  being  permitted 
to  cross  the  portal. 

Hawaii  was  annexed  in  1898.  Its  first  treaty 
with  Samoa  was  made  in  1872,  when  the  port  of 
Pago-Pago  was  acquired  as  a  coaUng-station  for 
steamers  trading  between  San  Francisco  and 
Australia.     The   treaty  was   not  ratified  imtil 


Asia. 


79 


1878.  At  the  end  of  1899  Great  Britain  retired 
from  Samoa,  which  was  left  to  be  divided 
between  Germany  and  the  United  States ;  and 
on  the  17th  April,  1900,  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
went  up  over  the  island  of  Tutulla.  At  Pearl 
Harbour  in  Hawaii,  and  Pago-Pago  in  Samoa, 
the  Americans  had  planted  sea-castles  in  the 
mid-Pacific,  as  bases  for  their  advances  upon 
Asia. 

The  event  which  converted  the  American 
Republic  into  an  Asiatic  Power  was  an  un- 
foreseen consequence  of  the  war  undertaken  for 
the  liberation  of  Cuba.  The  necessity  for 
destroying  the  Spanish  fleet  at  Manila,  which 
otherwise  would  have  been  free  to  prey  upon 
the  American  shipping,  placed  the  Americans 
in  command  of  the  greatest  commercial  city 
in  South  Eastern  Asia  at  Manila.  It  is  one 
of  the  invariable  consequences  of  war  that  the 
passions  excited  by  the  combat  arouse  appetites 
which  can  only  be  satisfied  by  the  annexation 
of  conquered  territory.  Mr.  Roosevelt  may 
have  foreseen  the  annexation  of  the  Philippines 
when,  in  1897,  as  Assistant-Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  he  pre[)ared  in  advance  for  the  attack 
upon  the  Spanish  fleet ;  but  it  is  doubtful 
whether  even  he  realised  the  avidity  with  which 
thelAmerican  people,  elated  by  the  easy  victory 
of  Admiral  Dewey,  would  fling  themselves  upon 
their  prey. 

"  At  any  rate  we  have  got  the  Philippines," 
exultantly  exclaimed  an  American  citizen  in 
London. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  I  replied,  "  it  is 
not  so." 

"Do  you  mean  to  say  we  have  not  got  the 
Philippines  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Certainly,"  I  answered.  "  You  have  not 
got  the  Philippines;  it  is  the  Philippines  who 
have  got  you." 

And  everything  that  has  happened  since  then 
has  justified  the  remark.  A  naval  action  of  a 
few  hours  destroyed  the  Spanish  fleet,  and  laid 
Manila  prostrate  at  the  feet  of  her  conquerors  ; 
but  three  years  of  intermittent  warfare  waged  by 
land  and  sea  have  not  yet  induced  the  Filipinos 
to  recognise  the  brotherly  love  and  benevolent 
intentions  of  the  invaders.  Aguinaldo  has  been 
captured,  but  the  Philippines  still  require  the 
maintenance  of  an  American  army  almost  as 
large  as  the  number  of  white  soldiers  by  which 
Britain  maintains  her  sovereignty  over  the 
300,000,000  natives  of  India.  Nor  does  there 
as  yet  seem  any  prospect  of  a  material  diminu- 
tion of  the  burden. 

But  American  influence  in  the  Philippines 
seems  likely  to  be  less  important  than  the 
influence  of  the  Philippines  in  the  United  States. 
The  acquisition  of  these  tropical  islands  suddenly 
dazzled  a  large  section  of  the  American  public 


with  visions  of  civilising  sovereignty  and  benefi- 
cent dominion  with  which,  in  this  country, 
we  have  long  been  familiar.  Dewey's  victory 
started  the  United  States  upon  a  career  of 
Asiatic  conquest.  Whether  she  will  persist  in 
it  or  not  remains  to  be  seen  ;  but  there  is  no 
doubt  but  that  the  annexation  inoculated  the 
United  States  with  that  feverish  spirit  of  Im- 
perialism which  ministers  subtly  to  the  national 
pride,  at  the  very  moment  that  it  offers  a 
soothing  salve  to  the  national  conscience. 

The  discussion  of  this  subject,  however, 
would  lead  us  away  from  the  question  of  the 
Americanisation  of  the  world,  to  that  of  the 
Phihppinisation  of  the  United  States.  The 
necessity  for  justifying  the  conquest  of  the 
Philippines — a  task  imposed  upon  them  as  an 
unexpected  corollary  of  a  naval  engagement^ 
led  some  Americans  to  grasp  greedily  at  all  the 
arguments  by  which  for  many  generations  past 
the  British  Jingo  has  justified  that  war  for 
markets  which  Sir  Edward  Clarke  stigmatised 
as  "  murder  for  profit."  At  the  same  time,  "  The 
White  Man's  Burden,"  that  swan  song  of  the 
expiring  genius  of  Mr.  Kipling,  supplied  an 
anodyne  to  the  uneasy  conscience  of  men  who 
were  keen  to  persuade  themselves  that,  while 
apparently  following  in  the  footsteps  of  preda- 
tory Empires,  they  were  in  reality  humbly 
accepting  onerous  duties  imposed  upon  them  as 
instruments  of  Divine  Providence.  The  bound- 
less possibilities  of  the  dominion  of  the  Pacific, 
and  the  opening  up  of  Asia,  stimulated  American 
oratory,  and  the  glowing  periods  of  the  orator 
swelled  the  heads  of  his  audience  with  radiant 
visions  of  a  regenerated  East  resulting  from  the 
establishment  of  the  benign  sovereignty  of  the 
American  Republic  at  the  gate  of  Asia. 

After  the  annexation  of  the  Philippines  the 
cutting  of  the  Isthmian  Canal  seemed  to  most 
Americans  to  be  a  foregone  conclusion.  While 
contemplating  the  possibilities  of  the  future. 
Senator  Beveridge  let  himself  go  in  opening 
the  Republican  campaign  in  Chicago  on  the 
25th  September,  1900,  in  the  following  charac- 
teristic outburst : — 

"  When  an  English  ship,  laden  with  English 
goods,  bound  for  the  Orient,  sails  westward,  her 
first  sight  of  land  will  be  Porto  Rico — and  Cuba, 
also,  as  I  hope — with  the  Stars  and  Stripes  above 
them.  As  it  passes  through  the  wedded  waters 
of  the  Isthmian  sea,  still  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
above  them.  Half-way  across  that  great  Amer- 
ican ocean,  known  as  the  Pacific,  the  first  port 
of  call  and  exchange  will  be  the  Islands  of 
Hawaii,  with  the  Stars  and  Stripes  above  them. 
And  further  west,  as  the  land  of  sunrise  and 
sunset  lifts  before  the  eyes  of  the  crew  of  that 
merchantman,  they  will  behold  glowing  in  the 
heavens  of  the  east  still  again,  and  still  forever, 


Asia. 


8i 


those  Stars  and  Stripes  of  glory.  And  if  that 
ship  sets  sail  from  Australia  for  Japan,  it  must 
stop  and  trade  in  ports  of  that  gre:itest  commer- 
cial stronghold  in  the  world,  the  Philippine 
Islands,  with  the  Stars  and  Stripes  above  each 
one  of  them.  Lay  a  ruler  on  the  world's  map 
and  you  will  find  that  the  most  convenient  ocean 
highways  to  the  markets  of  the  Orient  or  to  the 
markets  of  the  south  are  dominated  by  American 
possessions — by  Porto  Rico,  by  the  canal,  by 
Hawaii,  by  the  Philippines,  ours  now,  and  ours 
forever — aye,  and,  through  the  choice  of  her 
own  people,  by  Cuba  too,  ours  in  the  future, 
and  when  once  ours,  then  ours  forever,  with  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  above  them." 

Having  thus  established  themselves  in  the 
Philippines,  it  was  necessary  for  the  Americans 
to  discover  what  immense  use  could  be  made  of 
their  new  possession.  Senator  Beveridge  was 
careful  to  point  out  that  they  were  next-door 
neighbour  to  all  Asia ;  they  were  nearer  to 
India  than  St.  Louis  is  to  New  York,  to  China 
than  St.  Louis  is  to  San  Francisco.  They  were 
the  stepping-stone  to  the  most  sought-for  market 
in  the  world.  There  were  300,000,000  con- 
sumers in  India,  to  which  the  Philippines  gave 
us  almost  equal  access  with  England  herself. 
To  China,  with  her  400,000,000  consumers,  the 
Philippines  gave  us  quicker  access  than  even 
Japan  has  to  Australia,  and  all  Oceana,  to 
which  again  the  Philippines  give  us  easier  access 
than  England  herself. 

This  pocket  argument  was  reinforced  by  the 
customary  appeal  to  the  sacred  obligations  of 
duty  to  the  unfortunate  FiHpinos.  Again  to 
quote  Senator  Beveridge  : — 

"When  Circumstance  has  raised  our  flag 
above  them,  we  dare  not  turn  these  misguided 
children  over  to  destruction  by  themselves  or 
spoliation  by  others,  and  then  make  answer 
when  the  God  of  nations  requires  them  at  our 
hands,  "Am  I  my  brother's  keeper?" 

And  so  it  came  to  pass  that  the  United  States 
within  a  few  months  of  having  recoiled  with 
horror  from  any  suggestion  of  over-sea  dominion, 
declared  in  the  immortal  words  of  Mr.  Croker  : — 

"  I  am  in  favour  of  holding  on  to  all  that  we 
have  got,  and  reaching  out  for  more." 

To  us  in  the  Old  World  the  phenomenon  is 
too  familiar  to  excite  more  than  a  passing 
comment.  But  when  we  hear  the  old  familiar 
arguments  pronounced  with  an  American  accent, 
it  reminds  us  how  much  of  the  old  Adam  has 
survived  in  the  New  World. 

The  Americans  having  thus  become,  almost 
against  their  will  at  first,  but  afterwards  by  their 
deliberate  choice,  an  Asiatic  conquering  l*ower, 
were  compelled  to  confront  and  discuss  inter- 
national questions  of  the  first  magnitude,  and, 
primarily,  the   one   great  question  which  con- 


fronts all  m  the  East,  namely,  what  should 
be  their  attitude  in  relation  to  Russia.  The 
schism  which  tore  the  English-speaking  world 
in  twain  had  its  advantages  as  well  as  its  dis- 
advantages, and  one  of  those  advantages  was 
that  it  left  the  Republican  section  of  the 
English-speaking  world  immune  to  the  ravages 
of  Russophobia.  The  Russians,  the  only 
European  race  equalling  in  numbers  the 
English-speakers  of  the  world,  have  always  been 
in  as  friendly  relations  with  the  Americans  as 
they  have  been  at  cross-purposes  with  the 
British.  When  the  American  Republic,  newly 
planted  on  Asiatic  soil,  had  to  reconsider  its 
traditional  policy  in  relation  to  Russia,  it  was  a 
fateful  moment  in  the  history  of  the  race. 
Tempters  were  not  wanting  to  tell  Mr.  McKinley 
and  Mr.  Hay  that  they  should  modify  their 
traditional  policy  in  relation  to  Russia  by  taking 
up  a  position  more  or  less  akin  to  that  of 
Great  Britain.  The  old  saying  about  blood 
being  thicker  than  water,  which  was  first  coined 
in  the  fight  on  the  Peiho,  seemed  capable  of  a 
new  application,  and  there  were  not  wanting 
those  who  believed  that  an  Anglo-American 
alliance  with  an  anti-Russian  objective  was 
close  at  hand. 

Fortunately  the  world  was  saved  from  this 
disaster  by  the  good  sense  of  the  Americans. 
Mr.  Hay  seemed  to  waver  for  a  moment,  but 
finally  he  maintained  his  equilibrium,  and  the 
Americans  adopted  a  policy  in  China  which 
brought  them  into  harmonious  relations  with  all 
the  Powers,  without  committing  them  to  antagon- 
ism to  Russia.  Equally  with  Great  Britain 
America  advocates  the  policy  of  the  Open 
Door,  demanding  only  a  fair  field  and  no  favour 
in  the  international  competition  for  the  Chinese 
market.  But  whenever  British  statesmen  talk 
about  "  open  doors  "  there  is  always  the  sugges- 
tion of  menace  directed  against  Russia.  The 
United  States  is  more  likely  to  keep  the  door 
open  by  adopting  a  different  policy  and  by  being 
equally  ready  to  co-operate  with  Russia  or  with 
any  other  Power,  so  long  as  the  main  objects  ot 
their  policy  are  identical  with  her  own. 

The  United  States  were  fortunate  in  having, 
during  the  critical  period  when  the  fateful 
decision  was  taken,  a  Chinese  Minister  at 
Washington  who  had  assimilated  American 
ideas  so  perfectly  that  he  became  for  the  time 
being  a  veritable  force  in  American  politics.  In 
all  America  no  one  was  more  Americanised  than 
Wu.  Whether  he  was  driving  his  automobile 
about  the  streets  of  Washington,  or  lecturing  in 
Chicago,  or  contributing  to  the  North  American 
Reviciv,\\&  showed  himself  thoroughly  up-to-date 
and  capable  of  employing  all  the  resources  of 
Western  civilisation  for  the  purpose  of  furthering 
the  interests  of  the  great  empire  of  the   East. 


82 


The  A7ii€ricanisation  of  the   World. 


He  assisted  in  forming  a  strong  public  senti- 
ment in  favour  of  the  maintenance  of  the  in- 
tegrity of  the  Chinese  Empire,  and  made  a 
gallant  and  unsuccessful  struggle  against  the 
race  prejudice  which  led  the  Americans  her- 
metically to  seal  their  doors  against  Chinese 
immigration  at  the  very  time  when  they  were 
insisting  upon  the  maintenance  of  the  open 
door  in  China.  Although  the  United  States 
adopted  the  sound  policy  of  co-operating  with 
Russia  and  the  other  Powers  in  maintaining  the 
territorial  integrity  of  the  Chinese  Empire,  on 
condition  that  that  great  market  was  thrown 
open  to  all  comers  on  equal  terms,  the  growth 
of  her  trade  in  China  led  her  to  reconsider  her 
refusal  to  accept  a  concession  of  land  offered  her 
some  time  ago  by  the  Chinese  Government  at 
Tientsin.  Since  then  the  imports  of  America 
brought  into  Tientsin  from  America  have  ex- 
ceeded those  from  Great  Britain,  and  the  imports 
of  American  petroleum  have  exceeded  those 
from  Russia.  In  view  of  the  increase  of  trade 
the  American  minister,  Mr.  Conger,  has  received 
instructions  to  ask  the  Chinese  Government  to 
grant  a  concession  of  land  at  Tientsin,  where 
the  American  traders  may  establish  an  American 
municipality. 

This,  however,  in  no  way  implies  that  the 
United  States  contemplate  any  fishing  in  the 
troubled  waters  of  "spheres  of  influence"  and 
the  like.  They  played  their  part  in  the  defence 
of  the  Legations,  and  the  American  troops  were 
among  the  best  behaved  of  those  despatched 
for  the  relief  of  the  beleaguered  residency  in 
Pekin.  One  of  the  unfortunate  consequences 
of  the  war  was  that  it  tended  somewhat  to  dis- 
credit the  American  missionaries,  who,  if  the 
testimony  collected  by  Mark  Twain  may  be 
accepted,  showed  tendencies  in  dealing  with 
the  Person  Sitting  in  Darkness  that  savoured 
more  of  the  severity  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation 
than  of  the  sweet  reasonableness  and  merciful 
forgiveness  inculcated  by  the  Founder  of  their 
creed.  In  this  respect,  however,  the  American 
missionaries  resembled  most  of  their  cloth, 
whether  Protestant  or  Catholic,  and  they  share 
the  responsibility  of  having  contributed  to  the 
moral  bankruptcy  of  Christendom  in  China. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  instances  of 
the  exercise  of  American  influence,  the  far- 
reaching  consequences  of  which  are  absolutely 
incalculable  is  that  of  the  awakening  of  Japan. 
One  of  the  most  striking  achievements  of 
the  Nineteenth  Century  was  the  awakening  of 
Japan.  That  awakening  was  largely  due  to 
the  action  of  the  American  Government.  Baron 
Kantero  Kaneko,  President  of  the  America's 
Friends  Society  of  Japan,  in  1901  unveiled  a 
monument  to  commemorate  the  fact  on  the  forty- 
ninth  anniversary  of  the  arrival  of  Commodore 


Perry,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  who  was  sent 
to  Japan  for  the  purpose  of  concluding  a  treaty 
of  commerce  and  friendly  intercourse  between 
the  two  nations.  Until  that  time  Japan  had 
been  hermetically  sealed  to  Western  civilisation. 
Dutch  and  British  envoys  had  in  vain  attempted 
to  induce  the  Japanese  Government  to  open 
the  country  to  foreign  trade,  but  it  was  not 
until  1857,  when  Commodore  Perry  arrived  as 
the  emissary  of  the  Government  of  President 
Fillmore,  that  the  Japanese  were  induced  to  ^ 
abandon  their  policy  of  exclusion  and  embark 
upon  that  career  of  revolutionary  reform  which 
has  carried  them  so  far.  Baron  Kantero 
Kaneko,  in  the  circular  inviting  subscriptions  to 
the  monument,  said  : — 

"True,  Japan  has  not  forgotten — nor  will  she  ever 
forget — that  next  to  her  reigning  and  most  beloved 
Sovereign  whose  high  virtues  and  great  wisdom  are 
above  all  praise,  sne  owes  in  no  small  degree  her 
present  prosperity  to  the  United  States  of  America  in 
that  the  latter  rendered  her  great  and  lasting  service.  .  .  . 
After  the  lapse  of  these  forty-eight  years  her  people  have, 
however,  come  to  entertain  but  an  uncertain  memory  of 
Kurihama,  and  yet  it  was  there  that  Commodore  Perry 
first  trod  on  the  soil  of  Japan,  and  for  the  first  time 
awoke  the  country  from  a  slumbrous  seclusion  of  cen- 
turies— there  it  was  where  first  gleamed  the  light  that  has 
ever  since  illumined  Japan's  way  in  her  new  career  of 
progress." 

A  year  after  Perry's  visit,  in  spite  of  the  strong 
opposition  of  the  Barons,  and  without  waiting 
for  the  sanction  of  the  Emperor,  the  Regency 
concluded  a  treaty  of  commerce  which  opened 
the  ports  of  Japan  to  American  trade.  Similar 
conventions  were  afterwards  signed  with  Russia, 
France,  Holland,  and  England.  It  was  not, 
however,  until  fourteen  years  later  that  this 
important  step  bore  its  final  fruit  in  the  revolu- 
tion which  has  placed  Japan  in  the  forefront  of 
the  most  progressive  nations  of  the  world. 

In  the  period  that  intervened  between  1854 
and  1868  the  American  Government,  together 
with  England,  Holland  and  France,  bombarded 
Shimonoseki.  After  the  town  was  destroyed, 
an  indemnity  of  ;^7 50,000  was  exacted  from 
Japan  and  divided  among  the  Powers.  The 
United  States  Congress,  many  years  afterwards, 
authorised  the  President  to  return  to  Japan  the 
sum  of  ;^i37,ooo  which  was  in  excess  of  the 
expenditure  actually  incurred.  This  is  an 
almost  unique  instance,  possibly  quite  unique,  in 
which  any  civilised  Government  having  exacted 
an  indemnity  in  excess  of  damage  done,  made 
restitution  of  the  surplus.  If  all  the  civilised 
Powers  had  been  equally  honest  in  their  deal- 
ings with  Asiatic  races,  much  bloodshed  might 
have  been  avoided. 

The  influence  of  America  upon  Japan  has 
not,  however,  always  been  an  influence  for 
good.     The  career  of  Mr.  Hoshi  Tom,  who 


Asia. 


83 


was- assassinated  in  1901,  showed  tlrat  the  vices 
as  well  as  the  virtues  are  exportable  from  the 
United  States.  Mr.  Hoshi  Toru  was  a  man  of 
undoubted  ability,  who,  during  his  sojourn  in 
Washington,  where  he  was  attached  to  the 
Japanese  Legation,  was  much  impressed  by  the 
power  and  wealth  which  the  Boss  system  of 
American  politics  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Boss.  He  went  back  to  Japan,  and  in  no  long 
time  had  established  himself  as  the  Croker  of 
the  Japanese  capital.  His  power  was  so  firmly 
established  that  the  Reformer,  Iba  Sotaro, 
despairing  of  ridding  Japan  of  this  American 
importation  in  any  other  way,  slew  Hoshi  Toru 
in  full  light  of  day,  and  then  surrendered 
himself  to  the  authorities.  \Miether  Bossism 
will  revive  in  a  land  where  the  assassination 
of  the  Boss  ranks  as  an  act  of  patriotism, 
remains  to  be  seen. 

The  kingdom  of  Corea  is  another  field  which 
offers  promising  openings  to  the  American  capi- 
talist and  the  American  adventurer.  Already 
the  concessionaire  is  busy,  and  sooner  or  later 
we  shall  find  American  influence  potent  and 
possibly  supreme  in  the  Hermit  kingdom.  The 
American  trolly  has  already  invaded  the  capital, 
and  with  the  trolly  come  many  other  American 
notions  which  are  likely  to  have  considerable 
influence  in  deciding  the  future  of  the  country 
that  has  been  so  long  a  bone  of  contention 
between  Japan  and  Russia. 

American  influence  in  the  rest  of  Asia  until 
quite  recently  has  been  chiefly  confined  to  the 
teaching  of  American  missionaries.  They  have 
taken  an  honourable  and  useful  part  in  the 
presentation  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian 
religion  to  the  myriads  of  Burma  and  India. 
B>ery  British  missionary  is  regarded  more  or 
less  as  representing  the  Government  which  he 
obeys.  The  Americans,  who  do  not  labour  under 
this  disadvantage,  often  find  it  easier  on  this 
account  to  win  the  confidence  of  the  people 
among  whom  they  labour.  In  consequence  of 
this  detached  position,  they  are  able  sometimes 
to  affect  more  directly  the  action  of  the  Govern- 
ment than  the  British  missionaries. 

The  most  notable  illustration  of  this  was 
afforded  by  the  immense  service  which  was 
rendered  to  the  cause  of  morality  and  humanity 
by  the  action  of  two  American  ladies.  Dr.  Kate 
Bushnell  and  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Andrews,  who  suc- 
ceetied  in  bringing  to  light  the  existence  of  a 
deliberate  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  military 
authorities  of  India  to  set  the  decisions  of  the 
House  of  Commons  at  defiance  in  the  matter  of 
the  official  regulation  and  patronage  of  vice. 
There  are  few  things  finer  in  the  recent  annals 
of  India  than  the  way  in  which  these  two  women, 
alone  and  single-handed,  penetrated  into  canton- 
ment after  cantonment,  ascertained  the  existence 


of  the  terrible  facts  which  officialdom,  civil  and 
military,  insolently  denied,  and  then,  with  all 
their  evidence  complete,  came  to  London  to 
challenge  tlie  authorities,  and  put  them  to  open 
and  humiliating  confusion.  Lord  Roberts  to 
this  day  has  not  forgotten  the  bitter  moment 
when  he  had  to  confess  that  as  Commander-in- 
Chief  he  had  been  in  utter  ignorance  of  facts 
the  existence  of  which  he  had  denied.  To  have 
extorted  a  public  apology  from  Lord  Roberts, 
to  have  convicted  the  whole  of  Anglo-Indian 
officialdom  of  deceiving  the  world  in  order  to 
evade  the  deliberate  decision  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  is  an  achievement  which  rarely  falls 
to  the  lot  of  mortal  men,  and  still  more  rarely  to 
that  of  mortal  women. 

As  to  what  might  be  the  net  effect  upon  India 
if  America  and  Britain  amalgamated  their  forces, 
and  bore  "The  White  Man's  Burden"  in 
Asia  between  them,  it  is  as  yet  premature  to 
speculate.  At  present,  however,  it  is  worth 
noting  that  the  Viceroy  of  India,  Lord  Curzon, 
who  governs  the  country  in  the  name  of  the 
King,  has  as  partner  and  helpmate  an  American 
wife.  Love,  which  laughs  at  locksmiths,  makes 
also  short  cuts  through  political  barriers,  and  it 
may  be  that  in  the  marriage  which  made  a 
Chicago  girl  Vice-Empress  of  India  we  see  a 
foreshadowing  of  things  to  come,  when  Britain 
and  America,  happily  united  in  the  permanent 
ties  of  a  Race  Alliance,  may  pool  their  resources 
and  devote  their  united  energies  to  the  work  of 
the  amelioration  of  the  lot  of  the  impoverished 
myriads  of  Asia. 


Chapter  IV. — Central  and  South  America. 

It  sounds  somewhat  of  a  paradox,  but  it 
conveys  a  notable  truth,  that  there  are  few 
parts  of  the  world  which  have  been  less  Ameri- 
canised than  Southern  America.  As  I  have 
already  stated,  the  United  States  does  less 
business  with  the  entire  population  of  Central 
and  Southern  America  that  it  does  with  the 
5,000,000  or  6,000,000  people  who  occupy  the 
long  belt  of  territory  running  along  the  Northern 
frontier.  The  influence  of  New  York  and 
Chicago  is  much  more  felt  in  London  and  in 
Liverpool  than  it  is  in  Santiago  and  Buenos 
Ayres.  The  fact  is  that  the  whole  of  our 
geographical  notions  of  space  are  very  much  out 
of  date.  If  distances  were  calculated  not  by 
miles,  but  by  the  number  of  hours  or  days  it 
takes  to  traverse  tl^em,  we  should  have  a 
much  more  correct  view  of  the  comparative 
propinquity  of  places.  According  to  maps, 
the  United  States,  lying  in  the  same  continent 
as  South  America,  is  geographically  a  nearer 
reighbour  than  the  United  Kingdom.     But,  if 

G    2 


■ 

^Hr^^^^^^^HJ 

r 

P^r  m 

iirf r ''"' " '  ArtBIIB 

y 

I  : -  PRESIDENT   DIAZ   OF   MEXICO. 


BOLIVAR,    THE    FOUNDER    OF     BOLIVIA. 


CENTRAL   AMERICA    AND,  THE    RIVAL    CANALS. 


Central  and  South  America^ 


85 


any  one  in  the  United  States  wants  to  reach 
South  America,  he  will  find  it  a  saving  of 
time  to  cross  the  Atlantic  and  start  from 
London. 

While  the  Americans  are  Americanising 
England,  the  English  have  been  for  years  past 
busily  engaged  in  Anglicising  South  America, 
the  Monroe  doctrine  notwithstanding.  As 
we  need  to  modify  our  ideas  of  distance,  so 
it  would  be  well  to  rid  our  minds  of  a 
good  many  delusions  that  are  based  upon  the 
old  superstition  that  political  considerations 
dominate  everything.  Political  considerations 
sometimes  dominate  very  little.  Religion,  lite- 
rature, trade,  have  often  much  more  influence 
than  a  mere  political  tie.  Take  the  case  of 
South  America,  for  instance.  We  have  largely 
Anglicised  it  from  the  point  of  view  of  com- 
merce, but  the  people  of  that  continent  are 
much  more  subject  to  the  Pope  of  Rome  than 
to  Great  Britain.  Of  the  outside  influences 
which  affect  the  daily  lives  of  sixty  millions 
of  Central  and  Southern  Americans,  the  Vati- 
can comes  first,  the  English  Stock  Exchange 
second,  while  the  United  States  of  America 
comes  in  a  very  bad  third.  All  this  may  be 
changed,  and  the  citizens  of  the  United  States 
have  made  up  their  minds  that  it  must  be 
changed,  and  that  right  speedily ;  but  at  present 
they  have  placed  too  much  reliance  upon  a 
purely  negative  influence  exerted  exclusively 
dn  the  political  sphere. 

The  Monroe  doctrine,  for  instance,  by  which 
Uncle  Sam  may  be  said  to  have  cast  his  shoe 
■over  the  whole  of  the  territory  lying  south  of 
(the  Rio  Grande,  is  purely  negative.  It 
simply  says  to  all  European  States,  "Thou 
rshalt  not  annex  any  fresh  territory  in  the  New 
World."  But  there  it  stops.  Now  a  merely 
negative  interdict  such  as  this,  so  far  from 
■exercising  influence  on  South  America,  is 
apt  to  operate  in  the  exactly  opposite  direc- 
tion. It  is  a  guarantee,  to  all  the  half-bred 
Republics  lying  between  the  North  of  Mexico 
and  the  Straits  of  Tierra  del  Fuego,  against  all 
danger  of  annexation  from  European  Powers 
— that  is  to  say,  it  removes  the  pressure  of  the 
(fear  which  might  have  driven  them  to  put  their 
house  in  order,  lo  introduce  the  methods  of 
■civilisation,  and  ingratiate  themselves  with  the 
United  States  so  as  to  secure  the  support  of  the 
Oovemment  at  Washington  in  case  of  any 
meditated  conquest  by  any  of  the  Great  Powers. 
The  Monroe  doctrine  annuls  this  dread.  Each 
Republic  feels  that  it  can  do  as  it  pleases,  that 
it  need  take  no  heed  of  the  wishes  of  the  United 
States,  and  that  it  is  under  no  necessity  to  pro- 
vide itself  with  the  appliances  of  civilisation. 
We  ha\e  had  considerable  experience  in  the 
Old  Woi\d  of  the  mischief  which  is  wrought  by 


PRKSIDENT   CASTKO    OK 
VENEZUELA. 


this  kind  of  guar- 
antee. It  is  true 
that  there  is  no 
such  hideous nega- 
tion of  God  erected 
into  a  system  to 
be  found  either  in 
Central  or  South- 
ern America  as 
there  is  in  the 
Ottoman  Empire; 
but  there  is  no 
denying  that,  with 
the  exception  of 
Chile  and  the  Ar- 
gentine, most  of 
the  South  Ameri- 
can Governments 
leave   much   to   be   desired. 

President  Roosevelt  sees  this  clearly  enough, 
and  one  of  the  declared  objects  of  the  new 
administration  is  to  establish  a  direct  com- 
mercial alliance,  with  steamers  which  will 
place  the  American  ports  in  direct  communi- 
cation with  the  seaports  of  South  America. 
Until  this  is  done  the  American  commercial 
invasion  of  South  America  can  hardly  be  said 
to  have  begun.  At  present  the  Argentine 
Republic,  Chili,  and  Peru  are  commercial 
annexes  of  Great  Britain.  There  is  no  reason 
to  suppose  that  the  advent  of  the  United  States 
will  lead  to  our  banishment  from  provinces 
which  the  enterprise  of  our  merchants  have 
made  our  own  with  little  help  from  armies  or 
diplomacy.  It  is  forgotten  that  at  the  beginning 
of  the  century  we  seized  both  Monte  Video  and 
Buenos  Ayres,  and  if  our  generals  had  been 
men  of  ordinary  capacity  it  is  possible  there 
might  have  been  a  British  Empire  at  the  extreme 
south  of  the  American  continent  to  balance  the 
Canadian  Dominion  at  the  extreme  north.  That 
time,  however,  has  gone  by,  and  since  then  we 
have  neither  attempted  to  annex  South  American 
territory  nor  seriously  to  colonise  the  vast  and 
fertile  territory  of  South  America.  What  we 
have  done  has  been  to  lend  them  money  and 
to  invest  money,  millions  of  money,  in  the  con- 
struction of  their  railways  and  tramways,  and 
in  ranche  companies  and  mines. 

In  the  Argentine  Republic,  as  Mr.  Shaw- 
Lefevre  has  recently  reminded  us :  All  the 
railways  in  the  country  are  practically  owned 
by  British  capitalists  and  managed  by  English 
companies.  The  same  is  generally  true  of 
tramways,  telephone,  and  electric  lighting  com- 
panies. The  principal  banks,  and  loan  and 
trust  companies,  and  very  many  industrial  con- 
cerns are  worked  with  British  capital  and 
managed  by  Englishmen  and  Scotchmen.  In 
Buenos  Ayres  alone  there  are  160  miles  of  tram- 


86 


T/iQ  Afnericanisalion  of  the   World. 


ways  under  ten  different  companies,  all  of  which 
are  financed  from  England.  The  railway  com- 
panies under  British  management  can  raise 
money  at  4  per  cent.,  while  the  Government  of 
the  Argentine  has  to  pay  six.  There  is  an 
English  colony  of  25,000  persons  in  Buenos 
Ayres,  and  a  great  many  are  scattered  all  over 
the  country.  Mr.  Shaw-LefeVre  says  that  it  is 
estimated  that  nearly  ;^2 5 0,000,000  of  English 
capital  is  invested  in  the  country. 

Although  we  have  a  colony  of  25,000  in  the 
Argentine,  the  French,  who  are  usually  said  to 
be  not  a  colonising  nation,  are  credited  with 
twice  the  number,  and  they  are  at  least  equalled 
by  the  German  settlers.  But  although  the 
Russian  Stundists  and  other  nationalities  have 
helped  to  swell  the  foreign  element  in  the 
Argentine,  the  great  majority  of  the  European 
settlers  are  Italians.  They  find  the  climate 
agreeable,  and  they  are  at  home  in  a  land  whose 
population  is  Latin  in  its  origin  and  Catholic 
in  its  religion.  In  Chili  the  British  capitalist 
is  as  much  in  evidence  as  in  the  Argentine. 
Sir  Howard  Vincent,  who  travelled  through 
South  America  in  1897,  reported  that  the 
greater  enterprises  were  almost  entirely  in 
British  hands  ;  the  principal  railways,  the 
ports,  the  large  estates,  the  main  factories.  In 
Valparaiso  the  greatest   mercantile  houses  are 


British ;  nearly  half  the  shipping  is  British. 
The  Chilians,  he  declared,  are  the  British  of  the 
Pacific.  The  British  colonists,  largely  of  Scotch 
origin,  have  become  naturalised  Chilians,  and 
take  a  leading  part  in  the  government  of  the 
Republic.  In  Peru  half  the  shipping  arriving  , 
at  Callao  is  British,  and  the  Chilians  come  next,, 
whose  officers  are  nearly  all  British.  The  Peru- 
vian Corporation,  which  took  over  ^50,000,000 
of  the  Peruvian  foreign  debt,  and  also  ten  State 
railways,  are  all  British. 

How  vast  and  fertile  are  the  territories  which 
South  America  offers  to  the  over-crowded  popu- 
lations of  Europe  is  very  imperfectly  appreciated 
in  the  United  States.  Geographers  maintain 
that  there  is  more  good  fertile  soil  available  for 
colonisation  in  South  America  than  in  any  other 
Continent.  The  proportion  of  barren  wilder- 
ness is  smaller  there  than  elsewhere,  and  the 
population  per  square  mile  is  infinitesimal.  The 
whole  Continent  at  present  has  not  the  popula- 
tion of  the  German  Empire.  Yet  the  whole  of 
the  German  Empire  might  be  stowed  away  out 
of  sight  in  a  corner  of  Brazil. 

The  following  figures  concerning  South  and 
Central  America  are  quoted  from  a  very  useful 
pamphlet  compiled  by  Mr.  Sanson,  of  the  South 
American  Journal,  entitled  "  South  America  as 
a  Field  for  Emigrants  "  : — 


Trade  per 

Inhabi- 

Latest Trade  Returns. 

head  of 

■ki  _.  «<•  r^™,„»„.          Area  in  Square 
Name  of  Country.                 Miles. 

Population 
Last  Census. 

tants  per 
Square 
Mile. 

Population. 

Imports. 

E.xports. 

Imp. 

Exp. 

.      ... 

No. 

£ 

£ 

£ 

£ 

South  America. 

Brazil     .      .     .      .  |  3,218,082 

16,000,000 

S'i 

21,567,000 

26,752,200 

I-  3 

I-  6 

Argentine  Republic 

1,125,086 

4,090,000 

3-6 

21,485,780 

26,765,891 

5'  2 

6-  4 

Chili      .... 

293,970 

3,350,000 

II-4 

11,875,000 

11,955,000 

3-  6 

3-  6 

Uruguay 

72,150 

840,700 

"•5 

5,576,000 

6,728,200 

6-  6 

8-  0 

Paraguay 

98,000 

600,000 

6-1 

72,500 

69,400 

0-I2 

O'll 

Bolivia  . 

567,200 

2,330,330 

4-1 

3,670,050 

3,012,563 

I-  5 

!•   3 

Peru       . 

503,000 

4,000,000 

7-9 

1,929,727 

3,027,477 

o-  5 

0-70 

Ecuador 

120,000 

1,270,000 

IO-5 

1,394,578 

2,250,000 

I-   1 

I-  8 

Colombia 

573,900 

4,000,000 

6-9 

2,500,000 

2,670,000 

6-  0 

o'6o 

Venezuela 

593.940 

2,323.500 

3*9 

2,300,400 

3,516,519 

i-oo 

1-07 

Centi 

lAL  America. 

Guatemala  .     .                 46,800 

I. 535. 000 

33-1 

776,133 

1,098,390 

0-50 

0-60 

Costa  Rica 

37,000 

268,000 

7-2 

917,223 

1,012,102 

3'  3 

3-  8 

Salvador 

7,225 

803,534 

114-7 

270,000 

1,080,000 

0-38 

I-  4 

Honduras 

43,000 

398,900 

9-2 

274,661 

256,685 

0-70 

0-69 

Nicaragua 

49,500 

420,000 

8-6 

573,236 

636,710 

I-  4 

I-  5 

Mexico  . 

767,005 

12,619,954 

i6'4 

9,121,810 

13,871,513 

0-72 

I*   1 

8,215,858 

74,848,964 

^84,323,088 

;^i04,74i,840 

Central  and  Sotith  America. 


h 


'From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
countries  of  Latin  America  occupy  an  area  of 
8,215,858  square  miles,  or  about  2-31  times  the 
area  of  the  whple  of  Europe,  but  have  a  total 
population  of  less  than  double  that  of  the 
United  Kingdom.  A  still  closer  idea  of  the 
relative  sizes  of  the  countries  may  be  formed 
when  it  is  known  that  Brazil  alone  is  nearly 
equal  in  area  to  Europe,  or,  taking  the  area  of 
Great  Britain  at  88,600  square  miles  and  the 
population  at  40,000,000,  Brazil  has  about  361.^^ 
times  this  area,  but  only,  two-fifths  of  the  popu- 
lation. The  Argentine  Republic  is  1 2  •  6  times  the 
area  of  Great  Britain,  but  has  only  about  a 
tenth  of  the  population. 

The  Americans  of  the  United  States  have 
heretofore  done  little  or  nothing  to  develope 
this  vast  Continent.  They  do  less  trade  with 
South  and  Central  America  than  they  do  with 
the  five  millions  of  Canadians  on  their  northern 
border.  They  have  not  established  as  yet  a 
single  line  of  steamships  between  the  United 
States  and  South  America.  Britain  has  invested 
500  millions  sterling  in  South  America.  Every 
week  British  steamships  leave  for  South  Ameri- 
can ports.  Commercially,  we  have  annexed  the 
Continent.  But  as  Disraeli  said  there  is  room 
in  Asia  for  both  Russia  and  England,  so  we 
may  say  there  is  room  in  South  America  for 
both  John  Bull  and  Uncle  Sam. 

We  have  considerable  interest  in  other  parts 
of  South  America,  but  it  is  in  these  three  States, 
the  Argentine,  Peru,  Chili,  that  our  commercial 
ascendency  has  until  recently  been  unchallenged. 
Of  late  we  have  been  losing  ground.  The 
Germans  are  pressing  us  hard,  and  Mr.  Shaw- 
Lefevre  warns  us  only  this  year  that  unless 
Englishmen  are  prepared  to  work  more  and 
play  less,  they  will  see  themselves  supplanted 
by  their  more  industrious  competitors.  Not- 
withstanding all  the  many  hundreds  of  milHons 
of  British  capital  invested  in  South  America, 
there  has  been  no  attempt  to  base  upon  these 
investments  a  claim  to  political  influence,  much 
less  ascendency.  The  only  Briton  of  eminence 
who  has  ever  expressed  a  wish  to  alter  this  was 
Mr.  Cecil  Rhodes,  who  told  me  years  ago  when 
the  Argentine  made  default,  that  if  he  had  been 
Foreign  Minister  he  would  have  occupied  the 
Argentine  and  held  it  as  we  hold  Egypt,  as  a 
guarantee  for  the  payment  of  interest  on  Argen- 
tine securities.  The  fact  that  this  would  have 
brought  about  an  immediate  collision  with  the 
United  States  being  pointed  out  to  him,  he  at 
once  answered  that  the  right  thing  to  do  was  for 
England  and  America  to  have  done  it  together, 
after  the  fashion  of  the  Anglo-French  condo- 
minium in  Egypt  before  1880.  Mr.  Rhodes  at 
that  time  was  not  so  conspicuous  a  personage 
in  British  politics  as  he  became  after  he  was 


made  a  Privy  Councillor,  and  he  has  of  late 
had  a  good  many  other  things  to  think  of 
beyond  dreaming  of  South  American  adventures. 
Mr.  Rhodes,  to  do  him  justice,  never  wavered 
from  the  idea  of  a  race  alliance,  and  the  pro- 
motion in  all  continents  and  in  both  hemis- 
pheres of  the  ascendency  of  the  English-speaking 
man.  However  injudicious  his  suggestion  may 
have  been  about  the  Argentine,  it  could  at  least 
be  excused  on  the  ground  of  his  race-patriotism. 
But  this  excuse  cannot  be  alleged  for  another 
eminent  Briton,  the  King's  brother-in-law,  the 
Duke  of  Argyll  to  wit,  who  some  years  ago 
actually  published  in  German  a  fervent  appeal 
to  the  German  Empire  to  seize,  occupy,  and 
administer  the  Argentine  Republic  !  The  Duke 
of  Argyll  (he  was  then  the  Marquis  of  Lome), 
writing  in  the  Deutsche  Rei'uc  for  September, 
1 89 1,  pointed  out  to  the  Germans  that  the 
German  Empire  was  quite  capable  of  acquiring 
fame  and  advantage  by  its  warlike  or  diplomatic 
conquests.  He  pointed  out  what  they  were 
already  painfully  conscious  of — that  Germans 
ceased  to  be  Germans  when  they  went  abroad. 

"Now,"  said  he,  "  there  is  a  country,  the  one  country 
in  which  there  is  nothing  tut  men  to  despise,  where  a 
new  throne  is  to  be  mounted.  There  is  a  country  whysc 
welfare  depends  on  a  foreign  Power  iireventing  them 
from  knocking  off  each  other's  heads  every  few  years — a 
country  with  a  beautiful  capital,  a  splendid  harbour, 
a  good  soil,  in  which  everything  is  excellent,  except  the 
government.  This  country,  which  only  requires  a 
European  protectorate  to  bring  into  it  the  long-desired 
order  and  to  make  it  an  El  Dorado,  is  Argentina.  Here- 
German  rule  established  in  the  form  of  a  protectorate,  or 
in  any  other  form,  would  be  welcome,  because  it  would 
be  capable  of  helping  the  country  out  of  its  distress." 

And,  lest  the  Germans  should  not  be  suffi- 
ciently tempted  by  the  glowing  picture  which  he 
painted  of  the  Empire  which  they  could  win 
with  their  good  swords,  in  the  South  of 
America,  he  warned  them  that  one  day  another 
Power  will  come  and  do  what  must  one  time  be 
done  there,  "  and  then  the  (German  at  home 
will  be  angry,  but  he  will  be  too*  late." 

And  the  man  who  thus  writes  was  at  one  time 
Governor-General  of  Canada,  the  representative 
of  the  British  Empire  in  North  America.  Bu-t 
the  Monroe  Doctrine  and  the  certainty  that  if 
Germany  had  responded  to  his  appeal  she 
would  have  been  involved  in  war  with  the 
United  States,  never  seemed  to  have  crossed  his 
mind,  so  oblivious  are  even  clever  men  of  the 
governing  factors  in  a  situation  upon  which  they 
venture  to  profi'er  glib  advice. 

The  Germans,  it  must  be  admitted,  have 
shown  little  inclination  to  respond  to  the  sugges- 
tions of  the  tempter.  It  is  not  upon  Argentina, 
but  further  north,  that  the  Germans  at  present 
have  fastened  their  eyes.  Great  efforts  have 
been   made   for   several   years   past   to   deflect 


88 


The  Amcrica7iisation  of  the   World 


German  emigration  from  North  America  and 
Australia  to  Brazil.  German  Colonists  have 
settled  themselves  in  communities  in  which 
nothing  but  German  is  spoken,  and  which  are 
looked  upon  in  Berlin  as  the  possible  germ  of  a 
great  South  American  German  Empire.  It  is 
easy  to  see  that  if  they  increase  and  grow 
powerful,  these  German-Brazilian  communities 
by  their  superior  culture  and  discipline  may  be 
in  a  position  to  intervene  effectually  in  deciding 
the  destinies  of  that  vast  half  continent  which, 
despite  all  its  fertility,  is  not  one  quarter 
peopled. 

Colonel  C.  P.  Bryan,  United  States  Minister 
at  Brazil,  declared  on  his  return  to  the  United 
States  in  October,  1901,  that  he  had  utterly 
failed  to  discover  any  disposition  on  the  part 
of  the  Germans  or  Italians  to  pursue  their 
nationalist  aspirations  in  Brazil.  In  Southern 
Brazil  he  estimates  the  German  population  at 
present  at  about  a  quarter  of  a  million  in 
number.  Many  of  them  have  become  Brazilian 
citizens,  and  are  as  much  Brazilianised  as 
German  emigrants  in  the  United  States  are 
Americanised.  Very  few  Germans  of  late  years 
have  been  settling  in  Brazil.  In  1898  the 
Italians  sent  33,000,  the  Portuguese  11,000,  the 
Spaniards  6000  emigrants  to  Brazil,  while  the 
<Jermans  sent  not  500. 

The  Americans  are  well  aware  of  German 
.aspirations  in  the  direction  of  Brazil,  and  plain 
and  unmistakable  warnings  have  been  uttered 
from  time  to  time  in  what  may  be  described  as 
the  semi-official  press  of  the  United  States  that 
any  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  German  Empire 
to  establish  either  a  German  protectorate  or  a 
German  colony  under  the  German  flag  in  any 
part  of  the  South  American  Continent  will  be 
regarded  as  a  casus  belli. 

In  Central  America,  the  only  vital  interest 
for  the  United  States  is  found  in  the  fact  that 
across  the  isthmus  lies  the  shortest  road  between 
the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific. 

American  public  opinion  appears  to  have 
decided  in  favour  of  severing  the  Isthmus  which 
unites  the  two  Americas.  The  question  as  to 
whether  to  make  the  Isthmus  through  Nicaragua 
or  through  Panama  appears  to  have  been 
decided  in  favour  of  the  longer  route.  Uncle 
Sam  has  got  money  to  burn,  and  the  digging  of 
a  canal  183  miles  in  length  through  a  difficult 
country  at  a  cost  of  something  under 
^1^38, 000,000  sterling  may  not  be  good  business 
from  the  point  of  view  of  dividends,  but  it  is  a 
much  more  sensible  occupation  than  that  in 
which  nations  frequently  engage  for  the  e.xpen- 
diture  of  their  surpluses.  It  is  not  for  us  who 
have  tlirown  away  ^200,000,000  sterling  in 
order  to  render  South  Africa  permanently  more 
difficult  to  hold  than  it  would  have  been  if  we 


had  never  fired  a  shot,  to  carp  at  an  expendi- 
ture of  under  ;!^4o, 000,000  which  will  incidentally 
and  among  other  effects  have  the  result  of  bring- 
ing Melbourne  nearer  to  New  York  than  it  is 
to  Liverpool. 

It  is  not  necessary  here  to  enter  into  parti- 
culars as  to  the  merits  of  the  rival  routes.  The 
Commission  appointed  to  inquire  into  the 
matter  reported  that  as  they  could  not  buy  out 
the  French  interests  in  Panama  for  less  than 
^20,000,000,  the  total  cost  of  the  Panama 
route  would  be  between  ;j^i  2,000,000  and 
;^ 1 3,000,000  more  than  the  Nicaragua  route. 
If  the  Americans  are  prepared  to  sink 
^40,000,000  in  constructing  a  35  feet  deep 
waterway  across  183  miles  of  Central  American 
territory,  and  are  further  willing  to  build  fifteen 
miles  of  breakwater  and  dredge  out  the  sea  to 
that  distance,  they  will  make  us  all  their  debtors, 
but  it  is  extremely  improbable  that  they  will  ever 
reap  any  adequate  financial  return,  and  as  for 
the  advantages  of  the  canal  from  a  naval  point 
of  view,  the  less  said  the  better.  British  naval 
authorities,  at  any  rate,  are  tolerably  unanimous 
in  believing  that  any  admiral  who  would  venture 
in  war  time  to  risk  any  valuable  vessel,  let  alone 
a  fleet,  in  the  passage  of  such  a  canal  as  that  of 
Nicaragua,  would  deserve  to  be  court-martialled. 

The  moment  the  United  States  decide  to  cut 
the  canal,  they  must  first  of  all  negotiate  for  a  ten 
mile  strip  across  the  territory  of  Nicaragua  and 
Costa  Rica  so  as  to  give  them  absolute  control 
of  five  miles  on  either  side  of  the  waterway. 
Then  the  American  naval  authorities  are  insist- 
ing that  it  will  be  absolutely  necessary  to 
occupy  three  or  four  naval  stations,  from  which 
their  fleet  could  defend  the  safety  of  the  canal. 
The  maintenance  of  these  coaling  stations  ought 
to  be  debited  to  the  working  expenses  of  the 
canal.  The  existence  of  the  canal  would  probably 
precipitate  the  conclusion  of  the  negotiations 
which  are  pending  for  the  purchase  of  the 
Danish  West  Indies,  while  other  stations  would 
be  occupied  in  Almirante  Bay  in  Colombia,  in 
the  Gulf  of  Dulce  in  Costa  Rica,  and  one  of  the 
Galapagos  Islands  which  are  off"  the  coast  of  and 
belonging  to  Ecuador.  From  a  financial  point 
of  view,  the  investment  of  ;^5 0,000,000,  because 
such  enterprises  always  cost  much  more  than 
the  estimates,  is  endangered  first  by  the  possi- 
bility that  some  one  may  construct  the  Panama 
Canal,  and  so  oflfer  a  short  route  from  sea  to 
sea,  less  than  one-fourth  of  the  distance.  This 
probability  is,  however,  ver}-  remote.  If  the 
Panama  Canal  has  never,  been  cut  when  its 
constructors  could  count  upon  a  monopoly,  no 
one  is  likely  to  sink  money  in  it  when  it  would 
have  to  compete  with  the  American  Canal 
through  Nicaragua.  Much  more  serious  than 
the  more  or  less  shadowy  danger  of  the  Panama 


7»ur,ial.]  [Mmneapoiis. 

A  UNITED   STATES   INSTEAD   OF    A  STATE 
OF  DISCORD. 

.The  American  Eagle.— "  What  you  folks  want  is  to  get 
togither  and  have  an  uncle  of  your  own." 


North  American.]  iPhiladelphta. 

John  Blll. — "I  quit;   you  dig." 


AVro  Yjrk  Herald.] 


THE    AMERICAN    INVASION. 


90 


The  Americanisation  of  the   World. 


Canal  is  the  prospect  that  the  Tehuantepec 
Railway  will  carry  the  biggest  ships  from  sea 
to  sea  considerably  cheaper  and  much  more 
rapidly.  The  construction  of  the  Tehuantepec 
railway  is  in  the  hands  of  a  British  contractor 
and  it  is  expected  that  it  will  be  completed  at  a 
cost  of  five  millions — years  before  the  Americans 
get  half  way  through  with  their  Nicaragua 
Canal.  To  cut  the  canal  it  will  require  two 
years'  preliminary  work,  and  six  years'  hard 
digging.  The  Americans  will  be  very  lucky  if 
the  first  ship  works  its  way  through  all  the  locks 
on  the  Nicaragua  route  ten  years  from  to-day, 
whereas  the  Tehuantepec  line  will  be  ready  in 
two  years.  Sir  Weetman  Pearson  has  a  lease 
of  fifty  years,  so  if  this  forecast  be  correct 
British  enterprise  has  been  doing  precisely  what 
Canning  boasted  to  have  done  when  he  pro- 
pounded the  Monroe  Doctrine,  and  established 
British  interests  in  Central  America  vl^ithout  in 
any  way  violating  American  susceptibilities. 

The  revolutionary  disturbances  which  com- 
pelled the  United  States  to  land  marines  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  the  Panama  Railway  from 
interruption  were  an  unpleasant  reminder  of  the 
contingencies  which  must  be  faced  by  those 
who  go  a-riding  and  a-sailing  through  Central 
American  Republics.  Once  the  canal  is  made 
there  is  little  doubt  that  the  whole  of  the  ten 
miles'  strip  will  become  part  and  parcel  of  the 
territory  of  the  United  States  and  will  form  a 
base  from  which  the  authority  of  Uncle  Sam 
will  be  extended  both  east  and  west  and  north 
and  south  until  the  control,  if  not  the  actual 
annexation,  of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica  would 
be  complete. 


Chapter  V. — The  Monroe  Doctrine. 

What  is  the  Monroe  doctrine?  The  best 
answer  is  to  be  found  in  quoting  the  words 
which  President  Monroe  used  in  his  message  : 

"  We  owe  it,  therefore,  to  candour  and  to  the 
amicable  relations  existing  between  the  United 
States  and  those  (European)  powers  to  declare 
that  we  should  consider  any  attempt  on  their 
part  to  extend  their  system  to  any  portion  of 
this  hemisphere  as  dangerous  to  our  peace  and 
safety." 

He  added  that  such  a  procedure  would  be 
viewed  as  "  the  manifestation  of  an  unfriendly 
disposition  to  the  United  States,"  and  that  it 
would  not  be  looked  upon  with  indifference  by 
them. 

The  doctrine  was  first  suggested  to  President 
Monroe   by   Mr.    Canning.      Canning  himself 


would  have  been  considerably  astonished  had 
he  seen  the  result  of  his  suggestion.  He  said 
that  he  regarded  his  recognition  of  the  Republics 
of  Mexico  and  Columbia  as  an  act  which  wo\ild 
make  a  change  in  the  face  of  the  world,  almost 
as  great  as  that  of  the  discovery  of  the  continent 
now  set  free.     He  went  on  to  say : — 

"The  Yankees  will  shout  in  triumph,  but  it  is  they 
who  lose  most  by  our  decision.  The  great  danger  of  the 
time,  a  danger  which  the  policy  of  the  European  system 
would  have  fostered,  was  a  division  of  the  world  into 
European  and  American,  Republican  and  Monarchical, 
a  league  of  wandering  Governments  on  the  one  hand, 
and  developing  and  stirring  nations  with  the  United 
States  at  their  head  on  the  other.  We  slip  in  between, 
and  plant  ourselves  in  Mexico.  The  United  States  have 
gotten  the  start  of  us  in  vain,  and  they  link  once  more 
America  to  Europe,'* 

This  linking  of  America  to  Europe  was  the 
one  thing  which  the  Monroe  doctrine  is,  now 
invoked  in  order  to  render  impossible. 

The  Monroe  Doctrine  primarily  concerned 
South  and  Central  America.  Its  original  justifi- 
cation was  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  Republican 
Government  of  the  United  States  to  exclude 
from  the  New  World  the  despotic  system  that 
prevails  on  the  continent  of  Europe.  Hence 
its  avowed  motive  when  it  was  promulgated  was 
anti-monarchical  rather  than  anti- European.  It« 
originated  with  Canning,  and  was  prompted  by 
a  horror  of  the  Holy  Alliance,  which  was 
regarded  both  in  ICngland  and  America  as  a 
conspiracy  of  despots  against  human  liberty. 
If  Canning  and  Monroe,  who  may  be  regarded 
as  the  joint  authors  of  the  doctrine  in  its  first 
promulgation,  had  been  cross-examined  as  to 
their  motives,  they  would  have  ridiculed  the 
idea  that  the  new  policy  had  any  other  motive 
than  that  of  securing  the  New  World  for  free 
Governments  and  of  confining  despotism  to  the 
Eastern  hemisphere.  But  in  the  formulation  of 
the  doctrine  they  were  not  careful  to  distinguish 
between  a  despotic  and  a  monarchical  Power, 
and  they  used  the  word  European  as  a  synonym 
for  monarchical  despotism.  In,  that  sense  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  was  proclaimed,  and  in  that 
sense  it  was  always  interpreted  down  to  the 
time  of  its  great  revival  six  years  ago,  at  the 
time  of  the  Venezuelan  dispute.  Then  the 
Americans,  ignoring  the  original  objective  of 
the  doctrine,  used  it  in  order  to  protest  against 
an  extension  of  British  dominions  in  South 
America.  The  British  Empire  was  a  European 
Monarchy,  and  therefore  technically  came 
under  the  ban  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 
Yet  not  even  Mr.  Cleveland  nor  Mr.  Olney 
would  have  ventured  seriously  to  assert  that  a 
British  colony  was  less  free  or  less  progressive 
than  the  half-breed  Republic  of  Venezuela  or 
the  dictatorial  Republic  of  Mexico.     What  Mr. 


The  Mofiroe  Doctrine. 


91 


W.  D.  Howells  said  on  the  subject  would  have 
been  admitted  by  all  educated  Americans, 
namely,  that  the  constitutional  monarchies  of 
England,  Scandinavia  and  Italy  were  in  essence 
Republican,  although  they  still  retained  their 
monarchical  trappings.  It  was,  therefore,  a  dis- 
tinct abuse  of  the  spirit  of  the  doctrine  by  using 
its  letter  for  the  j)urpose  of  forbidding  an  exten- 
sion of  a  British  colony  at  the  expense  of  a 
nominal  Republic.  This,  however,  is  a  purely 
academical  point,  because  there  is  no  desire  on 
the  part  of  any  Englishman  to  annex  any  portion 
of  South  or  Central  America.  Indeed  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  we  are  at  the  present 
moment  in  negotiation  for  the  transfer  of  our 
jurisdiction  over  the  Mosquito  Indian  to  the 
Republic  of  Nicaragua.  But  it  is  well  to  raise 
this  point,  in  order  to  show  the  process  by  which 
the  Monroe  Doctrine  attained  its  present  deve- 
lopment. The  original  motive  has  disappeared. 
It  is  not  in  order  to  secure  the  Western  hemi- 
sphere for  free  institutions  that  the  doctrine  is 
maintained.  It  is  in  order  to  exclude  European 
States  as  European  States,  whether  they  be  con- 
stitutional or  monarchical.  The  nature  of  their 
Governments  has  nothing  to  do  with  it,  and  a 
formula  originally  invented  to  put  limits  upon 
the  spread  of  despotism,  is  now  invoked  in  the 
first  place  as  a  measure  of  self-protection  for  the 
United  States  of  America ;  in  the  second,  in 
order  to  exclude  Europe  from  America.  This 
may  be  right,  or  it  may  be  wrong.  It  is  not  the 
original  doctrine. 

President  Roosevelt's  inaugural  message  sup- 
plied the  world  with  a  clear,  explicit  and  autho- 
ritative exposition  of  what  the  Americans  mean 
when  they  speak  of  the  Monroe  doctrine.  The 
passage  is  so  important  that  it  is  well  to  quote 
it  in  full. 

"  This  doctrine  should  be  the  cardinal  feature 
of  the  foreign  policy  of  all  nations  of  the  two 
Americas.  It  is  in  no  wise  intended  to  be 
hostile  to  any  nation  of  the  Old  World,  and  still 
less  is  it  intended  to  give  cover  to  any  aggres- 
sion by  one  of  the  New  World  at  the  expense  of 
another.  It  is  simply  a  long  step  towards  assur- 
ing the  universal  peace  of  the  world  by  securing 
the  possibility  of  permanent  peace  in  this  hemi- 
spere.  During  the  century  other  influences  have 
established  a  permanence  of  independence 
among  the  smaller  States  of  Europe,  through  a 
doctrine,  and  we  hope  to  be  able  to  safeguard 
like  independence  and  secure  like  ])ermanence 
for  the  lesser  States  among  the  New  World 
nations.  The  doctrine  has  nothing  to  do  with 
the  commercial  relations  of  any  American  Power, 
save,  in  truth,  that  it  allows  each  to  form  such 
as  it  desires.  It  is  really  a  guarantee  of  the 
commercial   independence    of  the   Americans. 


We  do  not  ask  under  the  doctrine  any  exclusive 
commercial  dealings  with  any  other  American 
State  ;  we  do  not  guarantee  any  State  against 
punishment  for  misconduct,  pro\  ided  the  punish- 
ment does  not  take  the  form  of  the  acquisition 
of  territory  by  any  non-American  Power  j  and 
we  have  not  the  slightest  desire  to  secure  any 
territory  from  our  neighbours.  We  wish  to  work 
with  them  hand  in  hand,  so  that  all  of  us  may 
get  lifted  up  together.  We  rejoice  over  the  good 
fortune  of  any  of  them,  and  gladly  hail  their 
material  prosperity  and  jjolitical  stability,  and 
are  concerned  and  alarmed  if  any  fall  into  indus- 
trial or  political  chaos.  We  do  not  wish  to  see 
any  Old  World  military  Power  grow  up  on  this 
continent,  or  to  be  compelled  to  become  a  mili- 
tary Power  ourselves.  The  peoples  of  the 
Americas  can  prosper  best  if  left  to  work  out 
their  own  salvation  in  their  own  way.  The 
work  of  building  up  the  navy  must  steadily  con- 
tinue. All  we  want  is  peace,  and  towards  this 
end  we  wish  to  be  able  to  secure  the  same 
respect  for  our  rights  from  others  which  we  are 
eager  and  anxious  to  extend  to  their  rights  in 
return.  To  insure  fair  treatment  of  the  United 
States  commercially,  and  to  guarantee  the  safety 
of  the  American  people,  our  people  intend  to 
insist  upon  the  Monroe  Doctrine  as  the  one  sure 
means  of  securing  peace  in  the  Western  Hemi- 
sphere. The  navy  offers  the  only  means  of 
making  our  insistence  upon  the  doctrine  any- 
thing but  a  subject  of  derision  to  whatever 
nation  chooses  to  disregard  it.  ^^'e  desire  the 
peace  which  comes  as  of  right  to  the  just  man 
armed,  not  the  peace  granted  on  terms  of  igno- 
miny to  a  craven  and  weakling." 

This  is  definite,  both  in  what  it  affirms  and 
what  it  denies.  But  it  is  well  to  note  that  the 
President  has  put  his  foot  down  definitely  upon 
the  assumption  that  the  Monroe  Doctrine  has 
anything  to  do  with  commerce  beyond  allowing 
each  American  State  to  make  what  commercial 
treaties  it  chooses.  We  do  not  ask,  he  says, 
for  any  exclusive  commercial  dealings  with  any 
American  State.  ]5ut,  only  a  fortnight  before 
the  President  laid  down  the  law  in  this  positive 
fashion.  General  James  H.  Wilson,  addressing 
the  American  Free  Trade  League,  gave  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  an  extension  which  he  put 
forward  as  a  i)lea  for  Free  Tratle,  hut  which 
could  be  used  in  a  very  different  sense  by  Ameri- 
can Protectionists.     General  Wilson  said  :— 

"Inasmuch  as  under  the  Monroe  Doctrine  we  have 
assumed  the  burden  of  protecting  the  neighbouring  states 
from  foreign  aggression,  the  question  naturally  arises : 
Why  should  we  not  try  to  get  some  commercial  advan- 
tage from  them  which,  while  it  may  make  them  richer 
and  stronger,  would  in  a  measure  compensate  us  for  our 
trouble  and  expense  ?  They  arc  clearly  under  the 
American  hegemony,  and  if  the  Monroe  Doctrine  is  to 


92 


The  Americanisation  of  the   IVoi'ld, 


be  maintained,  they  are  clearly  within  the  American 
system  of  public  law.  That  is,  our  national  will  must 
prevail  in  all  cases  where  we  choose  to  assert  it,  if  we 
are  strong  enongh  to  enforce  it,  and  we  are  pledged  to 
enforce  it  in  all  cases  where  European  governments 
seriously  encroach  upon  the  territorial  integrity  or  the 
sovereignty  of  any  American  State. 

"  Under  this  aspect  of  our  relations  with  them,  why 
should  the  United  States  not  say  frankly  to  all  the  States 
of  North  America,  at  least,  we  will  agree  to  absolute 
and  reciprocal  free  trade  in  natural  and  manufactured 
products,  between  our  country  and  all  its  dependencies, 
wherever  situated,  on  the  one  hand,  and  all  the  imme- 
diately neighbouring  countries  on  the  other,  under  a 
uniform  tariff  to  be  agreed  upon  by  the  parties  to  the 
arrangement,  and  to  be  carried  into  effect  as  against  all 
other  countries  ?  " 

He  admitted  that  it  would  prejudicially  affect 
European  trade,  especially  the  trade  of  Great 
Britain  with  the  Dominion  of  Canada.  He 
further  looked  forward  to  an  extension  of  the 
same  principle  to  all  the  South  American 
Republics.  This,  it  must  be  admitted,  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  Monroe  doctrine  pure 
and  simple.  I  only  note  it  by  the  way  as 
indicative  of  a  tendency  to  give  that  doctrine 
an  expansion  which  it  does  not  properly  possess, 
and  to  note  that  President  Roosevelt  has 
rigidly  confined  it  to  the  political  area. 

It  is  also  noteworthy  that  the  President 
expressly  repudiates  the  theory  which  some  of 
his  friends  have  expressed  in  very  vigorous 
terms  that  the  United  States  should  undertake 
the  responsibility  of  exercising  general  overlord- 
ship  over  the  foreign  policy  of  the  Central  and 
South  American  States.  The  passage  in  his 
speech  which  will  be  read  with  most  interest  in 
Germany,  is  that  in  which  he  said  that  the 
United  States  do  not  guarantee  any  State  against 
punishment  for  misconduct,  provided  that  the 
punishment  does  not  take  the  form  of  the 
acquisition  of  territory  by  any  non-American 
Power.  From  this  it  follows  that  if  any  South 
American  State  should  find  itself  involved  in  a 
quarrel  with  any  European  Power,  the  United 
States  has  now  repudiated  in  advance  any  right 
under  the  Monroe  doctrine  to  protect  such 
American  State  from  European  attack.  If 
Germany,  for  instance,  had  a  grievance  against 
Venezuela  which  she  maintained  rendered  it 
necessary  for  her  to  inflict  punishment  upon 
that  republic,  the  American  Government  could 
not,  in  face  of  President  Roosevelt's  declara- 
tion, raise  any  objection  if  the  German  Fleet 
escorted  a  German  Army  Corps  across  the 
Atlantic,  if  the  Army  Corps  were  landed  upon 
Venezuelan  territory,  occupied  the  capital,  and 
imposed  any  terms  by  the  will  of  the  conqueror 
upon  the  conquered,  so  long  as  the  Germans  did 
not  stipulate  for  the  acquisition  'of  territory  by 
Germany.     But  it  is  not  necessary  to  acquire 


territory  in  order  to  establish  non-American 
ascendency  in  the  country  in  which  the  punitive 
expeditions  of  unlimited  severity  and  duration 
are  permitted  by  the  United  States.  Americans 
are  perfectly  well  aware  of  the  precedent  of 
Egypt.  Germany  could  not  possibly  make  more 
emphatic  protests  as  to  her  intention  to  evacu- 
ate South  American  territory  than  Mr.  Gladstone 
made  as  to  our  determination  to  withdraw  our 
garrison  from  the  Nile  delta.  What  is  more, 
Mr.  Gladstone  made  his  declarations  in  perfect 
good  faith,  and  intended  to  carry  out  his  pledges. 
But  nearly  twenty  years  have  elapsed  since, 
with  the  battle  of  Tel-el-Kebir,  the  control  of 
Egypt  passed  into  the  hands  of  Great  Britain. 
England  has  not  annexed  a  square  yard  of  terri- 
tory in  Egypt  but  from  that  day  to  this  the  will 
of  England  has  been  law  in  Cairo  and  Alexan- 
dria. 

What  is  to  hinder  the  Germans  improving 
upon  the  English  precedents?  They  can 
accept  with  both  hands  the  interdict  upon  the 
acquisition  of  territory.  All  they  would  need 
to  do  would  be  to  impose  upon  the  offending 
state  a  sufficiently  heavy  financial  penalty,  and 
to  insist  upon  occupying  certain  points  of 
vantage  until  the  money  was  paid,  or  at  least 
until  a  government  should  be  established  in  the 
country  with  sufficient  solidity  to  satisfy  them 
that  they  would  not  have  their  punitive  expedi- 
tion to  do  over  again  as  soon  as  the  last  man 
of  the  expeditionary  force  was  embarked  upon 
the  German  transports.  It  is  not  surprising 
that  President  Roosevelt  should  endeavour  to 
repudiate  any  responsibility  to  shield  the 
Southern  and  Central  American  Republics  from 
punishment  for  misbehaviour,  because  any 
attempt  to  prevent  the  European  Powers  from 
avenging  their  own  wrongs  would  have  entailed 
upon  the  American  Government  the  effective 
exercise  of  the  duties  of  Lord  Chief  Justice  ot 
the  Western  Hemisphere  which  Mr.  Olney 
claimed,  but  which  no  American  statesman  is 
prepared  to  exercise.  If  the  Monroe  doctrine 
is  really  to  be  enforced  in  spirit  as  well  as  in 
letter,  and  the  European  Powers  are  to  be  for- 
bidden to  establish  themselves  in  South  America, 
the  United  States  will  have  to  reconsider  its 
policy  and  prepare  to  shoulder  the  burden  of 
answering  for  the  maintenance  of  international 
law  throughout  the  whole  of  the  American 
Continent.  They  may  hope  to  evade  it,  and 
the  occasion  may  not  arise  for  some  time  to 
come.  But  by  leaving  the  door  open  for 
punitive  expeditions  to  be  conducted  at  the 
discretion  of  each  and  all  of  the  European 
Powers,  President  Roosevelt  has  given  the 
Kaiser  the  opening  which  he  needs  if  he  really 
cares  to  take  advantage  of  it. 


The  Monroe  Doctrine. 


93 


I  have  said  that  President  Roosevelt  felt  that 
he  was  compelled  to  concede  to  European 
Powers  the  right  to  punish  South  American 
Republics  as  the  only  alternative  to  the  assump- 
tion by  the  United  States  of  the  functions  of  the 
Chief  Justiceship  of  the  world.  It  is  probable, 
however,  that  the  Americans  will  discover  a 
via  media,  which  will  enable  them  to  avoid  the 
obvious  dangers  resulting  from  European  puni- 
tive expeditions  directed  against  South  and 
Central  American  States,  and  the  assumption 
of  the  office  of  an  international  sheriff  who 
undertakes  the  duty  of  enforcing  respect  for  law 
throughout  the  whole  of  that  vast  expanse  of 
territory.  What  is  there  to  hinder  the  United 
States  of  America  from  laying  down  the  law 
that,  whenever  any  European  State  has  a 
grievance  against  any  South  American  Republic, 
it  shall  not  be  free  to  redress  its  alleged  wrong 
until  it  has  submitted  the  whole  question  to  an 
International  Tribunal  of  Arbitration,  whose 
award  the  United  States'  Government  will 
undertake,  with  the  aid  of  the  other  American 
States,  to  enforce  ?  This  would  certainly  mini- 
mise the  evils  which  are  inherent  in  both  the 
courses  which  are  at  present  regarded  as  the  only 
alternatives.  Arbitration  would  in  nine  cases 
out  of  ten  lead  to  an  amicable  settlement  of  a 
quarrel,  and  in  the  tenth  case  the  United  States 
would  not  stand  alone  in  enforcing  respect  for 
the  tribunals  which  the  recalcitrant  State  first 
invoked,  and  then  rejected. 

Certainly  some  such  solution  is  urgently  to 
be  desired.  Italy  and  Germany  regard  the  vast 
half-peopled  South  American  Continent  as  the 
natural  Hinterland  for  the  overflow  of  their  popu- 
lation. Disputes  are  inevitable,  and  prescient 
statesmen  would  do  well  to  provide  in  advance 
for  their  amicable  settlement ;  and  the  advan- 
tages of  a  system  that  would  forbid  all  punitive 
expeditions  across  the  Atlantic  which  would  not 
entail  the  assumption  of  any  onerous  responsi- 
bilities on  the  part  of  tlie  United  States 
will  naturally  commend  itself  more  and  more 
to  the  sober  common-sense  of  the  American 
people. 

When  Mr.  Olney,  President  Cleveland's 
Secretary  of  State,  claimed  for  the  United 
States  that  it  was  practically  sovereign  on 
this  Continent,  and  its  fiat  is  law  upon  the 
subjects  to  which  it  confines  its  interposition," 
he  startled  the  Old  World  a  little,  but  he 
scared  the  New  World  much  more.  For  while 
none  of  the  European  Powers,  with  the  some- 
what dubious  exception  of  Germany,  have  any 
aspirations  after  territory  in  the  Western  hemi- 
sphere, there  is  not  a  government  in  Southern  or 
Central  America  that  does  not  regard  with  un- 
disguised alarm  the  claim  of  the  big  brother 


with  a  big  stick  way  up  in  the  North  to  exercise 
lordship  or  dominion  over  them. 

Recognising  the  existence  of  this  feeling  of 
alarm,  Mr.  Secretary  Hay,  in  his  speech  to 
the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce,  made 
the  following  declaration  with  a  view  to  allaying 
the  uneasiness  which  undoubtedly  prevails  as 
to  the  possible  consecjuences  of  the  Monroe 
doctrine,  as  interpreted  and  extended  by  Mr. 
Olney's  declaration  :  "  I  think  I  may  say  that 
our  sister  Republics  in  the  South  are  perfectly 
convinced  of  the  sincerity  of  our  attitude. 
They  know  we  desire  the  prosperity  of  each, 
and  peace  and  harmony  among  them.  We  no 
more  want  their  territory  than  we  covet  the 
mountains  of  the  moon.  We  are  grieved  and 
distressed  when  there  are  differences  among 
them,  but  even  then  we  should  never  think  of 
trying  to  compose  those  differences  unless  by 
the  request  of  the  parties  thereto.  We  owe 
them  all  the  consideration  which  we  claim  for 
ourselves.  To  the  critics  of  various  climates 
who  have  other  views  of  our  purposes,  we  can 
only  wish  fuller  information  and  quieter  con 
sciences." 

Notwithstanding  Mr.  Hay's  assurance,  it  seems 
to  outsiders  that  the  instinct  of  the  South 
American  governments  is  perfectly  sound.  The 
Monroe  doctrine  demands  as  its  necessary  logical 
corollary  the  assumption  by  the  United  States 
of  the  right  and  the  power  to  compel  the  other 
American  States  to  refrain  from  actions  which 
would  give  European  Powers  a  legitimate  casus 
bdli.  If  European  Powers  are  left  to  their 
own  resources  when  face  to  face  with  Southern 
or  Central  American  Republics,  they  will  of 
necessity  follow  the  time-honoured  path.  They 
will  send  first  a  man  of  war,  then  a  squadron, 
they  will  declare  war,  despatch  troops  and  do 
their  best  to  seize  the  enemy's  capital.  Of 
course  they  may  do  all  this,  and  if  when  they 
conclude  peace  they  evacuate  the  occupied 
territory  and  make  no  attempt  to  annex  American 
soil,  the  Monroe  doctrine  will  be  left  intact. 
But  the  risk  is  very  great,  that  if  a  European 
Power  once  establishes  its  troops  as  conquerors 
in  a  position  of  vantage  on  the  American 
Continent,  it  will  be  very  difficult  to  turn  them 
out  without  actual  menace  of  war.  *Not  only 
so,  but  the  experience  of  the  United  States  in 
Cuba  is  sufficient  to  show  how  easy  it  is  to 
establish  political  paramountcy  over  a  territory 
without  annexation.  The  Monroe  doctrine  says 
nothing  about  paramountcy.  It  relates  solely 
to  the  extension  of  territorial  possessions.  If, 
therefore,  President  Roosevelt  is  anxious  to 
keep  Europe  out  of  America  he  will  be  driven 
either  by  mediation,  friendly  offices,  or  by  down- 
right intervention  to  prevent  disputes  between 


94 


The  Aniericanisation  of  the   World. 


European  and  American  States  ever  coming  to 
blows.  That  in  the  long  run  will  practically 
mean  that  all  the  Central  and  South  American  Re- 
publics, while  nominally  Sovereign  International 
States,  are  really  subject  to  the  suzerainty  of  Uncle 
Sam,  and  all  serious  diplomatic  business  will  be 
settled  at  Washington.  It  may  be  very  good 
for  the  South  American  States  thus  to  have  the 
most  difficult  and  delicate  diplomatic  questions 
taken  out  of  their  hands.  The  case  of  Venezuela 
offers  an  excellent  illustration  of  the  advantage 
which  such  States  occasionally  reap  from  the 
timely  intervention  of  the  big  brother  from  the 
North,  but  they  do  not  like  it,  all  the  same. 
The  small  powers  dread  the  great  State  which 
is  so  strong  that  the  fear  of  man  is  never  before 
its  eyes  and  which  is  so  supremely  conscious  of 
its  own  absolute  rectitude  that  even  when  it 
makes  war  it  is  calmly  confident  that  it  is  acting 
as  the  Vicegerent  of  the  Almighty.  So  keen  is 
this  distrust  that  a  very  well  informed  American 
assured  me  this  year  that  England  never  made 
a  greater  mistake  in  her  own  interest  when  she 
refused  to  settle  the  Alaskan  difficulty  by  arbi- 
tration, because  the  American  Government  had 
stipulated  that  the  umpire  must  be  an  American. 
"  If,"  said  my  friend,  who  was  a  lawyer,  deservedly 
much  esteemed  in  the  highest  Governmental 
circles,  "  if  I  were  pleading  before  such  a  Court 
I  should  have  addressed  myself  solely  to  winning 
over  one  of  the  English  judges.  It  would  have 
been  hopeless  to  make  any  South  or  Central 
American  judge  admit  anything  in  favour  of 
the  United  States.  England  would  have  had 
the  umpire's  decision  in  her  pocket  before  the 
case  opened,  and  have  it  every  time."  The 
existence  of  such  a  sentiment  of  distrust  is  more 
likely  than  anything  else  to  provoke  action  on 
the  part  of  the  Washington  Government  that 
will  precipitate  the  extension  of  the  authority 
of  the  United  States  over  the  whole  Western 
hemisphere. 

If  Mr.  Olney's  claim  for  his  country  to  be 
Lord  Chief  Justice  of  the  Western  hemisphere 
excited  some  protest,  it  was  nothing  to  the 
indignation  provoked  by  his  frank  intimation 
that  in  the  opinion  of  the  American  nation  it 
is  "  unnatural  "  that  any  European  State  should 
possess  territory  in  the  Western  hemisphere. 

Mr.  Olney  said  :  "  That  distance  and  three 
thousand  miles  of  intervening  ocean  make  any 
permanent  political  union  between  a  European 
and  an  American  State  unnatural  and  inex- 
pedient will  hardly  be  denied." 

Lord  Salisbury  denied  it  at  once.  But  since 
then  Spain  has  been  deprived  of  her  American 
l)OSsessions  by  war,  while  Denmark  is  currently 
reputed  to  have  sold  her  West  Indian  Islands  to 
the  United  States  for  a  little  more  than  three- 
quarters  of  a  million  pounds  sterling. 


The  following  are   the   American  territories 
still  remaining  under  European  flags  : — 


Area, 
Square  miles. 


Population, 
1890. 


Denmark  : 
Greenland 

France  : 
St.  Pierre . 
Miquelon  . 
Gnadaloupe    . 
Martinique 
St.  Bartholomew 
French  Guiana 


34,015 


90 
721 

381 
8 

30,000 


Great  Britain  : 

Canada     3,315.647 

Newfoundland      .      .      .  40,200 

I^brador 120,000 

Bermuda 19 

British  Honduras      .      .  ,             8,291 

Jamaica 4. 192 

Trinidad 1, 754 

Barbados ;                  166 

Bahamas 4,466 

Eleven  other  West  Indian) 

Islands  or  groups  .      .),  ' ■* 

British  Guiana     ...  109,000 


Netherlands  : 
St.  Martin      . 
Cura9ao     . 
Dutch  Guiana 


227  i 
46,000 


10,516 


5^983 
165,154 
175,863 

2,898 
25,796 


4,832,679 

193,121 

4,211 

15,743 
27,668 

639,491 

198,747 

182,206 

49,500 

250,000 

287,981 


29,729 
74,132 


From  this  list  it  appears  that,  excluding  the 
possessions  of  Great  Britain,  the  only  footholds 
the  European  Powers  have  on  the  American 
Continent  are  in  Guiana  and  in  Greenland. 
Greenland  does  not  matter,  as  it  is  a  wilderness 
of  ice  and  snow. 

All  that  Europe  holds  on  the  mainland  is 
limited  to  Surinam  and  Cayenne,  a  stretch  of 
territory  covering  76,000  square  miles,  on  which 
only  100,000  persons  can  find  a  living.  So  far, 
therefore,  as  serving  notice  to  quit  upon  Euro- 
peans may  be  regarded  as  serious,  it  concerns 
England,  and  England  alone. 

It  is  not  likely  that  England,  with  whom  the 
Monroe  doctrine  first  originated,  will  do  any- 
thing calculated  to  bring  down  the  wTath  of 
President  Roosevelt  on  her  head.  So  long  as 
we  do  not  attempt  to  extend  our  territorv'  in  the 
Western  hemisphere,  we  may  take  it  that  no 
objection  will  be  taken^>ace  Mr.  Olney — to 
our  maintaining  the  territorial  sfafi/s  quo. 
Beati  possidaites.  So  far  so  good,  but  we  can 
hardly  acquiesce  without  at  least  a  passing  pro- 
test against  the  assumption  so  constantly  made 
by  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  that  no  one 
is  an  American  excepting  those  resident  within 
the  frontiers  of  the  Republic.  Canadians  are 
every  whit  as  much  Americans  as  their  neigh- 
bours south  of  the   St.    Lawrence.      Nor  can 


The  Monroe  Doctrine. 


95 


Great  Britain  agree  to  the  demand  that  they 
shall  forfeit  any  of  the  inherent  rights  which 
they  possess  as  Americans  because  for  reasons 
of  their  own  they  prefer  to  remain  in  connection 
with  the  British  Empire. 

At  the  same  time  we  are  bound  to  admit  that 
whatever  exception  we  may  take  to  Mr.  Olney's 
doctrine  as  to  the  permanent  union  between 
Great  Britain  and  her  American  colonies  being 
unnatural  and  inexpedient,  there  is  at  least  con- 
siderable probability  that  our  Colonists  them- 
selves may  come  to  be  of  his  way  of  thinking. 
To  say  this  is  not  in  any  way  to  endorse  the 
\iews  of  Professor  Goldwin  Smith,  who  has  this 
autiunn  repeated  once  more  his  oft-stated  con- 
viction that  the  majority  of  the  Canadians  desire 
to  throw  in  their  destinies  with  the  United 
States.  It  is  merely  to  register  the  conclusions 
arrived  at  after  a  cool,  dispassionate  survey  of 
the  forces  which  are  in  action  within  and  without 
the  Canadian  Dominion. 

It  would  seem  that  the  acquisition  by  any 
European  power  of  a  coaling  station  would 
be  resisted  as  strenuously  as  the  conquest  of  a 
tract  of  territory  on  the  mainland.  That  this  is 
no  exaggeration  is  shown  by  the  hubbub  that 
was  raised  quite  recently  by  the  announcement 
that  a  German  steamship  company  wished  to 
acquire  a  coaling-station  off  the  coast  of 
Venezuela ;  a  hubbub  which  only  subsided  on 
the  formal  and  emphatic  disclaimer  by  the 
German  Ambassador  at  Washington  that  no 
such  acquisition  was  contemplated  by  the 
German  Government.  On  hearing  this  declara- 
tion we  are  told  that  President  Roosevelt 
expressed  his  great  satisfaction.  The  incident 
is  regarded  as  finally  closing  the  door  upon  the 
acquisition  of  any  coaling-station  by  a  foreign 
Power  in  any  part  of  the  Western  Hemisphere. 

By  a  further  process  of  extension,  the  Monroe 
doctrine  is  held  to  forbid  the  transfer  of  any 
territory  now  held  by  a  European  Power  to  any 
other  European  Power.  The  Danes,  for 
instance,  have  three  small  islands  in  the  West 
Indies,  which  are  no  use  to  them,  anrl  which 
the  United  States  are  believed  to  be  willing  to 
buy.  The  Danes  would  be  only  too  delighted 
to  exchange  the  islands  in  the  West  Indies  if, 
instead  of  selling  to  the  United  States,  they 
could  do  a  deal  with  the  German  Empire,  and 
hand  over  their  West  Indian  Islands  in  ex- 
change for  North  Schleswig,  in  which  several 
hundred  thousand  Danes  groan  under  the 
domination  of  Germany.  .Vlthough  it  has 
never  been  officially  stated,  it  is  perfectly  well 
understood  that  the  United  States  would  object 
to  any  transfer  of  the  Danish  possessions  to 
the  German  Empire.  There  is  no  probability 
of  the  Germans  being  willing  to  exchange 
North  Schleswig  for  the  West  Indiin  Islands; 


but  they  would  probably  be  very  glad  to  acquire 
these  islands  by  outbidding  the  Americans  in 
the  matter  of  i)urchase-money.  The  Monroe 
doctrine,  hov/ever,  deprives  Denmark  of  an 
open  market.  She  can  only  sell  to  the  United 
States,  if  she  sells  at  all. 

Even  without  any  direct  effort  on  the  part  of 
the  United  States  effectively  to  assert  the  over- 
lordship  claimed  by  Mr.  Olney,  there  is  no  State 
in  South  America  which  docs  not  regard  the 
possible  development  of  American  designs  with 
ill-concealed  suspicion  and  alarm.  It  was  this 
motive  which  prompted  the  assembly  last  year 
at  Madrid  of  a  congress  of  representatives  of 
the  Latin  States  of  America  for  the  purpose  of 
endeavouring  to  re-establish  the  influence  of 
Spain,  which  had  been  badly  shaken  by  the 
Cuban  war.  If  there  is  one  thing  which  would 
dispose  any  of  the  South  American  States  to 
accept  a  German  Alliance,  it  would  be  for  the 
purpose  of  rendering  absolutely  impossihje  the 
establishment  of  a  protectorate  on  the  part  of 
the  United  States.  This  road,  therefore,  being 
closed,  North  Americans  are  diligently  setting 
themselves  to  ward  off  the  danger  of  European 
intervention  by  the  other  road  that  is  open  to 
them,  namely,  by  the  establishment  of  the 
system  of  arbitration  which  would  minimise  the 
dangers  of  internecine  war  between  the  South 
American  Republics  themselves,  and  establish  a 
system  by  which  difficulties  with  foreign  Powers 
might  be.  settled  without  an  appeal  to  the  last 
dread  arbitrament  of  war.  For  this  purpose  for 
the  last  twenty  years  it  has  been  a  fixed  object 
of  American  policy  to  promote  what  may  be 
called  a  Pan-American  system  of  Arbitration,  of 
which  the  Congress  which  assembled  in  Novem- 
ber in  the  capital  of  Mexico  is  the  latest  and 
most  conspicuous  sign. 


Chapter  VI. — Ox  iNTKRNAriONAL 
Arbitration. 

In  discussing  the  influence  which  the  Americans 
have  exercised  upon  the  world  at  large,  refer- 
ence must  be  made  to  the  one  great  interna- 
tional (juestion  in  which  they  have  uniformly 
been  a  potent  force  in  favour  of  the  cause  of 
progress  and  civilisation.  1  refer  to  the  question 
of  international  arbitration.  The  principle  of 
settling  disputes  between  Sovereign  States  by 
reference  to  a  judicial  or  arbitral  tribunal  formed 
the  very  foundation  of  the  .American  Constitu- 
tion. The  fact  that  from  the  .\tlantic  to  the 
Pacific,  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  there  are  to  be  found  no  frontiers 
bristling  with  cannon,  no  standing  armies  to 
defend  the  millions  of  the   forty-two  sovereign 


96 


The  Amcricanisation  of  the   World. 


States  banded  together  in  federal  union,  is  due 
to  the  Fathers  of  the  Republic  having  created, 
as  the  very  corner-stone  of  their  union,  a  Supreme 
Court  of  Justice,  authorised  to  adjudicate  upon 
all  questions  in  dispute  between  any  of  the 
federating  States. 

Accustomed  from  the  very  birth  of  the  Re- 
public to  the  spectacle  of  State  differences  being 
adjudicated  upon  not  by  the  bloody  arbitrament 
of  war,  but  by  the  judicial  decision  of  a  supreme 
tribunal,  the  Americans  naturally  attempted  to 
create  some  tribunal  competent  to  settle 
amicably  disputes  between  other  nations.  The 
principles  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  have  become  part  of  the  atmosphere  of 
the  American  citizen.  He  may  try  to  get  out- 
side it,  but  he  seldom  succeeds;  and  con- 
sciously or  unconsciously  he  perpetually  suggests 
the  application  of  the  principles  of  that  Con- 
stitution to  the  solution  of  almost  all  the  diffi- 
culties which  arise  in  the  outside  world.  Hence 
it  was  natural  that  the  movement  in  favour  of 
international  arbitration  should  have  found  in 
the  American  people  intelligent  and  enthusiastic 
support.  As  Great  Britain  was  the  power  with 
which  the  United  States  came  into  most  imme- 
diate contact,  and  therefore  developed  most 
points  of  friction,  it  was  equally  natural  that  the 
principle  of  arbitration  should  have  been  first 
brought  into  active  operation  for  the  settlement 
of  disputes  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain. 

The  first  arbitration  between  the  two  countries 
took  place  in  1816,  when  a  dispute  arose  about 
the  St.  Croix  River,  and  the  Lake  boundaries. 
A  few  years  later  a  question  arising  out  of  the 
Treaty  of  Ghent  was  referred  to  the  arbitration 
of  the  Emperor  of  Russia.  In  1827  a  question 
about  the  north-eastern  boundary  of  the  United 
States  was  referred  to  the  arbitration  of  the 
King  of  the  Netherlands.  In  1853  a  dispute 
about  some  liberated  slaves  was  settled  by  arbi- 
tration, and  in  1863  a  difference  that  arose 
between  the  Hudson's  Bay  and  the  Puget  Sound 
Company  was  also  settled  in  the  same  way. 

The  great  arbitration,  however,  which  con- 
stitutes a  landmark  in  the  history  of  the  two 
countries,  was  that  by  which  the  Alabama  claims 
under  the  Treaty  of  Washington  of  1871  were 
referred  to  the  Geneva  Tribunal.  In  the  same 
year  the  disputed  San  Juan  boundary  was 
referred  to  the  arbitration  of  the  German 
Emperor,  and  a  further  dispute  about  the  Nova 
Scotia  fishery  was  also  settled  amicably. 

In  1 89 1  the  question  of  the  seal  fisheries 
in  the  Behring  Sea  was  referred  to  a  Court  of 
Arbitration  in  Paris,  and  the  long  list  of  Anglo- 
American  arbitrations  was  closed  by  the  arbitra- 
tion which  settled  the  disputed  boundary  between 
the    British     Empire    and     the     RepuDlic    of 


Venezuela  in  1899.  No  other  two  nations  in  the 
world  have  had  so  many  arbitrations  as  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States. 

The  English-speaking  States  have  not  been 
content  with  endeavouring  to  influence  the 
world  by  the  force  of  their  example.  They 
committed  themselves  nearly  thirty  years  ago  to 
an  active  support  of  the  principle  as  will  be 
seen  by  the  text  of  the  following  resolution 
which  was  passed  by  both  Houses  of  Congress 
in  the  year  1874. 

"  Resolved  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  that  the 
President  of  the  United  States  is  hereby  authorised  and 
requested  to  negotiate  with  all  civilised  Powers  who  may 
be  willing  to  enter  into  such  negotiation  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  an  international  system,  whereby  matters  in 
dispute  between  different  Governments  agreeing  thereto 
may  be  adjusted  by  Arbitration,  and  if  possible  without 
recourse  to  war." 

In  1890,  Congress  again  in  both  branches 
of  the  Legislature  passed  the  following  resolu- 
tion : — 

"That  the  President  be  and  is  hereby  requested  to 
invite,  from  time  to  time,  as  fit  occasions  may  arise, 
negotiations  with  any  Government  with  which  the 
United  States  has,  or  may  have,  diplomatic  relations, 
to  the  end  that  any  differences  or  disputes  arising 
between  the  two  Governments  which  cannot  be  adjusted 
by  diplomatic  agency,  may  be  referred  to  Arbitration, 
and  be  peaceably  adjusted  by  such  means." 

In  1895  Senator  Sherman  introduced  a  bill 
for  the  purpose  of  enabling  the  President  to 
give  effect  to  the  resolution  of  1890  by  autho- 
rising him  to  conduct  negotiations  through  the 
regular  diplomatic  agents  of  the  United  States, 
or  at  his  discretion  to  appoint  a  commission  to 
visit  the  Governments  of  other  countries  for  the 
purpose  of  entering  into  negotiations  in  order 
to  create  an  international  arbitration  tribunal  or 
other  means  by  which  disputes  may  be  amicably 
settled  and  war  averted. 

When  the  Venezuelan  dispute  arose,  Presi- 
dent Cleveland  evoked  a  storm  of  enthusiastic 
approval  by  formulating  his  demand  for  arbitra- 
tion. Mr.  Carnegie,  the  most  peaceful  of  men, 
declared  that  arbitration  was  the  one  thing  in 
the  world  for  which  he  was  willing  to  fight. 
Mr.  Olney  laid  down  the  law  that  war  was  con- 
demnable  as  a  relic  of  barbarism  and  a  crime  in 
itself,  and  there  was  only  one  possible  way  of 
determining  the  question,  namely,  by  peaceful 
arbitration.  The  American  demand  thus  enthusi- 
astically supported  by  the  American  people 
compelled  Lord  Salisbury  to  abandon  his  posi- 
tion. Then  an  attempt  was  made  to  create  a 
permanent  treaty  of  arbitration  between  the  two 
States,  but  unfortunately  nothing  has  yet  been 
done  to  give  effect  to  the  wishes  that  were 
thus  expressed. 

In  1890  the  official  representatives  of  seven- 


On  International  Arbitration. 


97 


teen  American  Republics  assembled  at  Washing- 
ton and  passed  the  following  resolution,  which 
was  subsequently  accepted  by  sixteen  of  the 
Republics,  including  Brazil : — 

*'  The  Republics  of  North,  Central,  and  South  America 
hereby  adopt  Arbitration  as  a  principle  of  American 
International  I^w,  for  the  settlement  of  all  differences, 
disputes,  or  controversies  that  may  arise  between  them 
concerning  diplomatic  and  consular  privileges,  boundaries, 
territories,  indemnities,  right  of  navigation,  and  the 
validity,  construction,  and  enforcement  of  treaties,  and  in 
all  other  cases,  whatever  their  origin,  nature,  or  occasion, 
except  only  those  which  in  the  judgment  of  any  of  the 
nations  involved  in  the  controversy  may  imperil  its 
independence." 

Three  years  previously  the  Central  American 
States  made  a  treaty  by  which  five  Governments 
solemnly  promised,  in  case  of  disagreement 
between  them,  whatever  the  motives,  to  submit 
the  same  to  arbitration. 

The  first  international  treaty  providing  for 
arbitration  in  all  cases  was  made  between  the 
United  States  and  Honduras. 

Up  to  the  year  1895  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  had  entered  into  forty-seven 
agreements  for  referring  matters  to  arbitration. 
It  was  not,  however,  until  the  Peace  Con- 
ference at  the  Hague  that  the  principles  of 
pacific  arbitration  had  an  opportunity  of  getting 
into  practical  effect.  There  was  from  the  first 
a  kind  of  friendly  rivalry  between  Lord  Paunce- 


fote  and  the  American  Delegation  as  to  which 
could  most  effectually  promote  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Permanent  International  Tribunal. 
Honours  were  divided.  At  the  Hague  Lord 
Pauncefote  led,  but  America  scored  by  the 
mission  of  Mr.  HoUs  to  Berlin  which  brought 
(Germany  into  line.  Mr.  Holls  went  to  Berlin 
for  the  purpose  of  extricating  Germany  from  a 
position  which  would  have  left  her  isolated.  In 
interviews  with  the  Imperial  Chancellor  and 
the  Foreign  Minister,  he  was  able  to  convince 
the  statesmen  of  Germany  that  whatever  attitude 
the  German  delegates  chose  to  take  up,  the 
principle  of  an  International  Tribunal  of  Arbi- 
tration would  be  adopted  by  the  Conference, 
and  that  Germany  had  only  the  alternative  of 
standing  in  with  all  the  great  civilised  Powers 
or  of  taking  up  a  position  Avith  no  backer 
or  supporter  save  the  Sultan.  The  German 
Government  was  convinced  by  his  representa- 
tions that  the  train  was  going  to  start  anyhow, 
and  not  caring  to  be  left  forlorn  on  the  platform, 
followed  the  example  of  the  others,  and  the 
Convention  was  unanimously  approved  by  all 
the  Powers. 

A  record  so  honourable,  lasting  over  a  whole 
century,  and  culminating  in  the  greatest  Inter- 
national Parliament  which  met  in  the  capital  of 
Holland,  is  one  of  which  every  American  citizen 
has  good  reason  to  be  proud. 


Capt.  Crozier.  Mr.  N\:\v;ill.  Mr.  .\.  L).  White.         Mr.  .Sjth  Lj-.v.         C.ipt.  M.i'.i^u. 

THE'  AMERICAN   DELEGATES    AT   THE    HAGUE. 


Mr.  F.  W.  Holls. 


98 


The  Americanisation  of  tJic  World. 


PART  III. 
HOW  AMERICA  AMERICANISES. 


Chapter  I. — Religion. 

The  impulse  which  drove  the  earlier  dis- 
coverers across  the  Atlantic  in  search  of  the 
Golden  Indies  was  not  entirely  mercenary.  In 
the  fifteenth  century,  as  in  the  nineteenth,  there 
is  visible  a  curious  blend  of  avarice  and  religion. 
In  our  times,  the  missionary  has  usually  pre- 
ceded the  filibuster,  but  in  the  Spanish  conquest 
of  America  the  filibusters  took  the  initiative. 
And  no  sooner  had  the  Spanish  and  Genoese 
adventurers  discovered  the  existence  of  a  new 
world  beyond  the  seas  than  the  Church  of 
Rome  hastened  to  exploit  the  discovery  by 
the  despatch  of  missionaries  of  the  Cross,  who 
were  accommodated  with  free  passages  on  board 
the  barks  which  bore  the  freebooters  of  the 
Old  World  to  their  destined  prey.  The  map 
is  still  shown  in  Rome  in  which  the  Pope 
solemnly  divided  up  the  New  World  between 
Spain  and  Portugal,  two  nations  which,  both 
being  devotedly  Catholic,  accepted  the  papal 
delimitation  as  the  voice  of  the  Oracle  of  God. 
Destinies,  however,  were  less  obedient,  and 
to-day  when  the  visitor  at  the  museum  of  the 
College  de  Propaganda  Fide  surveys  the  map, 
he  indulges  in  melancholy  reflections  upon  the 
vanity  of  human  expectations  as  he  remembers 
that  not  over  even  one  single  islet  of  that  new 
world  now  floats  the  Spanish  or  Portuguese  flag. 
If  the  Old  World  imposed  its  faith  at  the 
sword's  point  on  the  aboriginal  populations 
of  Central  and  Southern  America,  Northern 
America  has  not  failed  to  confer  similar  benefits 
upon  the  Old  World,  although  by  a  very  different 
method  of  propaganda.  Prescott  has  given  us 
in  his  story  of  the  conquest  of  Peru  a  curious 
picture  of  the  methods  pursued  by  the  pious 
pirates  who  conquered  the  kingdom  of  the 
Incas.  The  unfortunate  Peruvians  who  were 
captured  by  the  Spaniards  were  given  the  choice 
of  conversion  to  Christianity  or  Death.  It  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at  that  multitudes  accepted 
the  faith  thus  imposed  at  the  point  of  the  sword  : 
but,  if  the  early  chronicle  may  be  believed,  their 
conversion  was  attended  with  even  less  than  the 
usual  modicum  of  intelligent  conviction.  To 
expound  the  Christian  mysteries  on  the  stricken 
field,  while  the  soil  is  still  fresh  with  new-spilled 
blood,  is  apt  to  be  a  somewhat  summary  pro- 
cess, but   it  has   seldom  been   so  grotesque  a 


burlesque  as  that  which  was  enacted  in  Peru. 
The  Spanish  conquerors  were  ignorant  of  the 
language  of  their  captives,  and,  had  perforce, 
to  depend  upon  the  services  of  stray  interpreters 
whose  intellects  were  unfamiliar  with  the  subtle- 
ties of  the  Athanasian  Creed.  Hence,  when 
the  Peruvian  was  summoned  to  profess  his  faith 
in  the  Christian  religion  and  its  fundamental 
dogma  of  the  Trinity,  he  was  told  by  the  inter-, 
preter  that  he  was  required  to  declare  that  there 
were  three  Gods  and  one  God,  and  that  made 
four  Gods ;  and  on  assenting  to  this  arithmetical 
proposition  he  was  incontinently  baptised  and 
admitted  as  a  true  believer  within  the  pale  of 
the  Christian  Church. 

Such  were  the  primitive  methods  of  Pizarro 
and  many  a  less  famous  Spaniard  who  preached 
the  gospel  with  the  sword  only  four  centuries 
ago.  The  unfortunate  millions  of  the  peaceful 
aborigines  whom  the  Spaniards  ground  to  death 
by  enforced  labour  were  graciously  vouchsafed 
the  alternative  of  heaven  beyond  the  grave  in 
compensation  for  the  very  real  hell  on  this  earth 
into  which  they  were  plunged  by  the  Spanish 
conquest. 

For  the  ?  time  being,  no  doubt,  the  triumph 
of  Spain  and  of  Rome  seemed  complete.  To 
this  day,  from  Northern  Mexico  to  Tierra 
del  Fuego,  the  Roman  faith  reigns  supreme. 
It  was  in  the  South  American  continent  that  the 
Jesuits  found  an  opportunity  for  realising  their 
political  and  religious  ideals,  and  at  this  moment 
it  is  in  the  States  of  Colombia  where  the  dis- 
possessed friars  from  the  Philippines  are  finding 
their  warmest  welcome.  Southern  and  Central 
America  have  been,  since  their  conquest,  verit- 
able States  of  the  Church.  But  churches,  like 
individuals,  are  often  cursed  with  the  burden  of 
a  granted  prayer.  The  religion  of  Rome  thus 
forced  upon  the  southern  half  of  the  Western 
Hemisphere  has  been  singularly  devoid  of  vitali- 
sing power.  It  would  be  difficult  to  specify  a 
single  religious  movement  originating  in  Southern 
America,  or  to  name  a  single  eminent  man  or 
woman  that  the  Southern  or  Central  American 
States  have  produced  who  has  exerted  any  in- 
fluence upon.the  religious  life  of  the  world.  To 
this  day  the  state  of  South  America  is  one  of  the 
scandals  of  the  Catholic  Church.  After  a  period 
of  dominance,  during  which  priest  and  Jesuit 
reigned  with  unchallenged  sway,  the  forces  of 


Religion. 


99 


revolt  asserted  themselves  with  violence ;  the 
Jesuits  were  expelled,  and  South  American 
Freethinkers  gave  ample  proof,  by  their  anti- 
clerical legislation,  that  Gambetta's  watchword 
— "  Lc  clericalismc—voihi  retinemi  !  " — could  be 
as  inspiriting  a  rallying  cry  in  the  New  World 
as  in  the  Old.  But  the  fierce  passions  engen- 
dered by  the  conflict  between  the  forces  of 
orthodoxy  and  of  unbelief  failed  to  purify  the 
Church.  The  morality  of  many  of  the  priests 
in  South  America  left  so  much  to  be  desired 
that  there  was  a  great  deal  of  talk  some  years 
ago  at  the  Vatican  of  the  necessity  for  such  an 
exercise  of  the  Pope's  authority  as  would  suspend 
for  a  time  the  enforced  celibacy  of  the  clergy, 
which  in  South  America  had  produced,  not 
chastity,  but  almost  universal  concubinage. 
Instead  of  being  a  glory,  the  South  American 
Church  has  become  the  scandal  and  the  reproach 
of  Catholic  Christendom. 

Far  otherwise  was  it  with  the  northern  half  of 
the  Western  Hemisphere.  Here  the  religious 
impulse  was  the  most  potent  factor  in  the 
colonisation  of  the  country.  The  gold  mines  of 
California  were  happily  unknown  in  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeeth  centuries.  The  Johannesburg 
of  the  New  World  lay  in  the  South,  and  thither 
hastened  all  the  adventurers  and  gold-seekers, 
the  early  prototypes  of  the  Outlanders  of  the 
Rand.  The  United  States  of  America  and 
Canada  were  to  the  conqidstadores  as  unattrac- 
tive as  were  the  pastoral  regions  of  the  high  veldt 
in  the  Transvaal  to  Messrs.  Werner,  Beit,  and 
Eckstein.  They  left  these  North  lands  to  those 
who,  like  the  primitive  Boer,  trekked  into  the 
wilderness  in  search,  not  of  gold,  but  of  liberty. 
Hence,  while  South  America  was  colonised  by 
the  devotees  of  Mammon,  North  America  was 
opened  up  by  stern  idealists,  who  fled  from 
the  city  of  destruction  of  the  Old  World  to  the 
virgin  wilderness  in  which  they  hoped  to  rear 
on  eternal  foundations  the  City  of  their  God. 

It  is  true  that  the  earliest  colonists,  those  who 
went  out  with  Raleigh  to  Virginia,  were  not  of 
so  lofty  a  type.  They  were  more  like  our 
colonists  of  the  present  day,  who  were  tempted 
by  prospects  of  carving  out  estates  for  them- 
selves and  founding  a  family  in  the  rich  tobacco- 
producing  regions  that  lay  south  of  the  Potomac. 
They  were  first  in  the  field ;  in  social  position 
they  were  possibly  superior  to  the  men  of  the 
Mayflotver ;  but  after  three  centuries,  during 
which  mankind  has  had  an  opportunity  of 
observing  the  comparative  potency  of  the 
difterent  elements  when  distilled  in  the  alembic 
of  history,  we  see  many  things  which  were 
hidden  from  the  eyes  of  our  forefathers  in  the 
seventeenth  century.  When  Byron  visited  the 
dungeon  of  Torquato  Tasso,  he  contrasted  in 
glowing  verse  the  difference  between  the  Duke, 


who  in  his  palace  signed  the  decree  that  flung 
the  poet  into  gaol,  and  the  captives  of  his  will. 

Thou  !  formed  to  eat,  and  be  despised  and  die, 
Even  as  the  beasts  perish,  save  that  thou 
Hadst  a  more  splendid  trough,  and  wider  sty 
I/e!  with  a  glorj-  round  his  furrowed  brow, 
Which  emanated  then  and  daz/.les  now. 

There  is  something  of  the  same  contrast 
between  the  affluent  and  luxurious  descendants 
of  the  Cavaliers  who  peopled  the  Southern  States 
and  the  grim,  stern  men  who  settled  on  "  the 
wild  New  England  shore."  The  Southerners 
had  the  wealth  and  the  ease,  the  fertile  field 
and  the  radiant  sun ;  but  the  shaping  of  the 
destinies  of  the  continent  lay,  not  in  their  hands, 
but  in  those  of  the  despised  fanatics  of  the 
North,  proscribed  fugitives  fleeing  in  slight 
cockle-shells  across  the  Atlantic  to  escape  the 
persecuting  zeal  of  prelate  and  of  King. 

The  impulse  which  drove  the  men  of  the 
Mayflower  across  the  sea  was  primarily  religious ; 
secondly,  political.  It  was  to  a  very  slight  extent 
economical  or  financial.  At  the  time  the  move- 
ment seemed  comparatively  insignificant.  To  the 
Sovereigns  and  statesmen  of  the  Old  World 
what  did  it  matter  that  a  colony  or  two  of 
pinched  fanatics  should  establish  themselves  on 
the  western  shore  of  the  Atlantic  ?  But  to- 
day every  one  realises  that  it  was  an  exodus 
as  fateful  in  its  influence  upon  the  history  of 
mankind  as  the  Exodus  of  the  Chosen  People 
through  the  Wilderness  to  the 'Promised  Land. 
The  last  century  also  witnessed  a  somewhat 
similar  exodus,  which  may  yet  be  as  potent  in 
the  making  and  unmaking,  of  empires.  The 
trek  of  the  Dutch  Boers  northward  across 
the  Vaal  seemed  even  less  significant  than  the 
landing  of  the  Puritans  at  Plymouth  Rock ;  but 
to-day  it  seems  not  impossible  that  as  the  one 
led  to  the  founding  of  the  greatest  Republic  . 
on  earth,  so  the  other  may  lead  to  the  shattering 
of  militarism  throughout  the  world. 

But  it  would  be  grossly  unjust  ta  regard  the 
Puritans  of  New  England  as  the  only  element 
which  religious  enthusiasm  has  contributed  to 
the  creation  of  the  American  Commonwealth. 
The  Roman  Catholics  who  colonised  Maryland 
were  also  to  a  large  extent  exiles  for  conscience' 
sake.     The  propagandist  efforts  of  the  Roman 
Church  in  North  America  differed  toto  coclo  from      '■ 
the  brutal  fashion  in  which  the  work  of  prose-      ! 
lytism  was  carried  on  in  the  South.     The  Jesuits,      j 
who   were   at  once  missionaries  and   explorers     < 
of  the  type  of  Livingstone,  were  the  pioneers  of 
European  colonisatipn  both  in  Canada  and  along 
the  Mississippi.     On  the  Pacific  coast  it  was  the 
fathers  of  the  various  religious  orders  who  were 
the  only  pioneers  of  Christian  civilisation  in  the 
Far  West,  until  the   Argonauts  of  1849  broke 

H  2 


THE   LATE   DWIGHT    L.    .MOODV. 


IRA  D.   SAXKEY. 


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THE  LATE  HENRY  WARD  BEECHER 
[Photo J>x_Elliott  Ss'  Fry.) 


THE  LATE  MISS  FRANCES  WILLARD, 


Religion. 


lOI 


in  rudely  upon  their  pastoral  simplicity.  As  it 
was  in  the  beginning,  so  it  has  remained  ever 
since.  The  two  continents  of  the  New  World 
have  been  divided  between  the  principle  of 
Authority  and  the  principle  of  Liberty.  The 
American  Commonwealth  from  its  very  birth 
asserted  with  unmistakable  emphasis,  as  in- 
alienable and  fundamental  rights  of  mankind, 
liberty  of  conscience  and  liberty  of  religion. 

In  matters  of  religion  the  indirect  influence 
of  America  upon  the  world  has  probably  been 
more  potent  than  any  direct  effect  produced  by 
American  teachers  or  American  preachers, 
although,  as  I  shall  proceed  to  show,  the  influ- 
ence of  the  latter  has.been  by  no  means  insignifi- 
cant. It  was  the  citizens  of  the  United  States 
who  supplied  the  world  for  a  century  and  more 
with  a  great  object-lesson  as  to  the  possibility  of 
the  maintenance  of  religion  without  the  inter- 
vention of  State  churches  and  without  the  penal 
enactments  of  intolerant  legislatures.  To  a 
Europe,  hide-bound  with  the  old  tradition  that 
there  could  be  no  religion  unless  the  State 
established  and  endowed  some  form  of  religious 
creed,  the  United  States  presented  the  spectacle 
of  a  great  Christian  community,  in  which  the 
rites  of  religion  were  as  regularly  performed  and 
where  the  spirit  of  real  religion  was  at  least  as 
visibly  potent  in  the  fruitful  works  of  righteous- 
ness as  in  any  community  where  the  Church 
was  privileged  to  strut  abroad  bedizened  in  all 
the  gorgeous  livery  of  State.  That  potent 
influence  is  still  working  in  the  Old  World 
to-day.  The  example  of  the  United  States  has 
been  a  far  more  potent  dissolvent  of  the  Old 
World  ideas  as  to  the  necessity  for  an  insepar- 
able union  between  Church  and  State  than 
all  the  activities  of  the  Liberationist  Society. 
Cavour's  formula  of  a  Free  Church  in  a  Free 
State  was  not  uttered  till  more  than  two 
centuries  after  the  same  ideal  had  been  formally 
accepted  as  the  basis  of  the  American  Common- 
wealth. In  a  world  in  which  men  can  still  find 
themselves  in  high  office  bravely  confronting 
the  twentieth  century  with  the  ecclesiastical 
conceptions  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the  example 
of  America  streams  like  the  radiance  of  the 
rising  sun  across  the  dark  and  misty  world. 

Apart  from  this  all-pervading,  subtle,  indirect 
influence  of  the  American  ideas  as  to  Church 
and  State,  and  liberty  of  conscience,  not  even 
the  most  cursory  observer  can  overlook  the 
direct  influence  which  American  religious  life 
and  religious  thought  has  had  upon  large  sections 
of  the  English-speaking  people  in  Great  Britain, 
and  in  the  Greater  Britain  beyond  the  seas.  It 
is  natural  that  it  should  be  so,  because  at  least 
one-half  of  the  English-speaking  people  is  ecclesi- 
astically much  more  in  sympathy  with  the 
Americans    than    with    the    Anglicans.       The 


Anglican  Church  in  England  is  the  church  of 
an  influential,  cultured,  richly  endowed,  socially 
arrogant  sect.  It  is  a  thing  apart,  as  distinct 
from  the  Hfe  of  the  race  as  the  House  of  Lords 
or  the  monarchy.  Neither  monarchy.  House 
of  Lords,  nor  Established  Church  reproduce 
themselves  beyond  the  seas.  An  Episcopal 
Church,  no  doubt,  that  is  ecclesiastically  affi- 
liated with  the  Anglican  Church,  exists  in  all 
the  Colonies  and  in  the  United  States,  but  it  is 
nowhere  established  and  endowed,  its  clergy 
are  never  inoculated  with  the  virus  of  social 
ascendency,  and  although  in  some  the  evil 
leaven  of  sacerdotalism  works,  it  is  in  a  very 
attenuated  form.  The  Nonconformists  of  this 
countiy  are  spiritually  and  ecclesiastically  in 
much  more  vital  union  with  the  American 
Churches  than  they  are  with  the  Anglican 
establishment.  This  is  especially  true  of  the 
Independents  and  Baptists,  the  Unitarians,  and, 
to  a  less  but  still  to  a  very  real  extent,  of  the 
Presbyterians.  As  for  the  Methodists,  who 
had  no  share  in  the  glorious  traditions  of 
the  founding  of  New  England,  they  have 
increased  and  multiplied  so  much  in  the  United 
States  as  to  outnumber  the  Methodists  in  the 
old  country,  so  that  Methodism  may  be  regarded 
as  the  most  Americanised  of  all  the  religious 
sects.  On  an  CEcumenical  Council  of  Metho- 
dism, if  the  representation  were  adjusted  to 
numbers,  the  American  Methodists  would  out- 
number those  of  all  the  rest  of  the  world.  The 
Nonconformist  and  the  Methodist,  who  are 
conventionally  regarded  by  the  Established 
clergy  as  aliens  to  the  Commonwealth  of  Israel, 
who  are  reminded  at  every  turn  that  they  are 
pariahs  not  worthy  to  sit  at  table  with  the 
Brahmins  of  the  Establishment,  find  themselves 
at  home  in  the  wider  and  freer  area  of  the 
American  Commonwealth.  The  Congregation- 
alists.  Baptists,  Unitarians,  and  Presbyterians 
are  soUdaires  with  the  Puritans  and  their  descen- 
dants. The  Methodists  in  all  their  divisions 
are  equally  soUdaires  with  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church.  They  interchange  pulpits,  they 
use  the  same  books  of  devotion,  above  all  they 
sing  the  same  hymns.  Whenever  a  great  stone 
is  flung  into  the  lake  of  American  Or  British 
religious  life,  the  ripple  is  never  arrested  by  the 
Atlantic.  The  ever-enlarging  circles  extend 
without  a  break  from  continent  to  continent. 

To  the  man  in  the  street,  who  may  be 
presumed  to  belong  to  no  religious  organisation, 
these  ties,  ecclesiastical  or  denominational,  as 
you  may  please  to  call  them,  may  seem  of  small 
importance.  But  to  most  Methodists,  and  to 
very  many  Nonconformists,  their  denomination 
appeals  much  more  frequently  and  more  deeply 
than  the  national  organisation  of  the  country  to 
which  they  belong.      Politics  which  appeal  to 


I02 


The  Americanisation  of  the   World. 


i 


the  patriotic  sentiment  of  an  Englishman, 
make  only  an  occasional  demand  upon  his 
active  service.  If  he  votes  at  a  local  election 
once  a  year,  and  at  a  general  election  once  in 
five,  and  if  he  pays  his  rates  and  taxes,  that  often 
represents  the  maximum  of  the  service  which  is 
claimed  by  the  State  from  the  citizen.  His 
chapel  is  much  more  exacting.  It  is  always  with 
him.  Twice  on  Sunday,  at  least,  it  summons 
him  to  the  worship  of  God  in  some  stated 
public,  service.  But  this  is  merely  a  fragment 
of  the  demands  which  it  makes  upon  him.  He 
must  attend  the  prayer-meeting,  and  class-meet- 
ing, teach  in  the  Sunday-school,  distribute  tracts, 
take  part  in  cottage-meetings,  do  his  share  of 
local  preaching,  and,  in  short,  give  up  no  small 
portion  of  his  leisure  to  the  discharge  of 
his  religious  duties.  While  his  church  or 
chapel  is  always  with  him,  demanding  voluntary 
exertion  and  taking  continuous  collections,  the 
service  demanded  by  the  State  is  intermittent 
and  comparatively  insignificant.  Hence  soli- 
darity based  upon  the  identity  of  religious 
belief  is  often  a  far  more  real  and  vital  thing 
than  the  solidarity  that  springs  from  the  in- 
habiting of  the  same  country.  It  is  other- 
wise, of  course,  in  time  of  war.  When  the 
country  is  invaded,  the  sentiment  of  patriotism 
is  supreme.  But  the  English-speaking  race 
at  the  present  time  does  not  know  what  it 
is  to  be  invaded.  The  immense  majority  of 
men  who  speak  the  English  tongue  have  never 
heard  a  shot  fired  in  anger.  Hence  the  idea 
of  the  country  as  a  living  entity,  demanding 
imperiously  the  sacrifice  of  life  and  fortune 
in  its  service,  has  never  dawned  upon  many 
minds.  But  to  the  religious  man  and  religious 
woman  the  warfare  with  the  forces  of  evil  never 
ceases.  The  Church  is  the  army  of  the  living 
God,  always  mobilised  for  action.  Naturally 
the  thought  of  her  rnembers  turns  far  more  upon 
the  chapel  or  the  church  than  upon  the  State. 

To  those  who  have  been  brought  up  in 
the  sectarian  seclusion  of  the  Anglican  cult, 
it  is  difficult  to  realise  the  extent  to  which 
American  books,  American  preachers,  American 
hymnody,  mould  the  lives  of  the  Free  Church- 
men of  this  country.  If  I  may  be  pardoned 
an  autobiographical  reminiscence,  I  may  say 
that  there  rises  vividly  before  my  mind's  eye 
the  bookshelves  of  my  father's  study  in  the 
days  when  I  was  a  small  boy  in  a  Congrega- 
tional Manse  on  Tyne-side.  In  the  post  of 
honour,  formidable  and  forbidding  to  me,  at 
least,  stood  the  stately  volumes  which  contained 
the  writings  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  the  stem 
teacher  of  New  England,  who  represented  Cal- 
vinism in  all  its  grim  austerity.  On  another  shelf 
stood  the  works  of  Channing,  the  Unitarian, 
whose   loving   spirit   hardly   condoned   for  the 


offence  of  his  Unitarian  heresy.  There  was 
Barnes'  well-thumbed  commentary  upon  the 
New  Testament,  side  by  side  with  Baxter  and 
Matthew  Henry,  and  other  Puritan  Divines. 
Of  Jeremy  Taylor  and  Barrow  and  South,  and 
the  classic  writers  and  preachers  of  Anglicanism, 
there  was  no  trace.  Chalmers  and  Guthrie 
represented  Presbyterianism  of  Scotland,  but 
among  modem  preachers  the  works  of  Henry 
Ward  Beecher  were  the  most  conspicuous, 
although  Spurgeon  came  after  him,  cum  lojigo 
intemallo.  Ii  may  be  admitted  that  it  was 
but  a  meagre  theological  outfit,  although  there 
may  be  some  doubt  whether  many  of  my 
more  cultured  readers,  who  sneer  superciliously 
at  the  narrow  range  of  the  Independent 
minister's  book-shelves,  have  read  as  many 
theological  works  as  the  few  which  I  have  just 
named.  My  point,  however,  is  not  the  dimen- 
sions of  my  father's  library,  but  to  show  how 
teachers  and  preachers  of  New  England  of  the 
Puritan  Commonwealth  stood  side  by  side,  and 
were  held  in  equal  honour  as  supplying  the 
spiritual  pabulum  for  a  Nonconformist  household. 
I  have  some  reason  to  think  that  my  experience 
was  not  exceptional,  and  to  this  day  I  am 
inclined  to  believe  that,  if  the  rank  and  file  of 
Free  Churchmen  read  theology  or  sermons  at 
all,  it  will  be  found  that  their  reading  is  chiefly 
confined  to  the  authors  who  represent  the 
Puritan  Commonwealth,  the  W^esleyan  Revival, 
and  the  religious  life  of  the  Americans.  Hence, 
it  is  not  surprising  that  the  religious  public  in 
the  three  Kingdoms  have  been  smgularly 
susceptible  to  the  religious  influences  coming 
from  beyond  the  Atlantic. 

Lookmg  over  the  rdigious  movements  of  last 
century  in  the  English-speaking  world  there 
are  five  distinctly  discernible.  Of  these  five 
only  one  is  of  English  origin.  The  Tractarian 
movement  of  the  Middle  Century  was  distinc- 
tively Anglican,  but  beyond  a  certain  stimulus 
given  to  the  sensuous  exercise  of  divine  worship 
its  influence  was  strictly  confined  within  the 
limits  of  its  own  sect.  The  other  four  movements 
have  been  much  wider  in  their  sweep.  The  first 
and  most  persistent  has  been  Revivalism.  This 
was  distinctly  American  in  its  origin.  No- 
doubt  there  have  been  revivals  or,  as  Catholics 
would  say,  missions,  in  all  ages  of  the  Church  ; 
but  the  systematised  revival,  the  deliberate 
organisation  of  religious  services  for  the  express 
purpose  of  rousing  the  latent  moral  enthusiasm 
of  mankind,  is  a  distinctly  American  product 
of  last  century,  ^^'esley  and  Whitfield  may 
have  sown  its  seed  but  it  grew  up  across 
the  Atlantic.  Revivalism  flourished  in  the 
United  States  long  before  it  was  acclimatised 
on  this  side  of  the  water.  In  Professor  Finney, 
of  Oberlin   College,  Revivalism   found  its   ex- 


Religion. 


103 


positor  and  its  mouthpiece,  and,  as  a  direct 
result  of  his  teaching,  we  have  the  Salvation 
Army,  which  is  simply  Revivalism  organised 
on  a  permanent  basis  and  put  under  quasi 
military  discipline.  It  is  easy  to  sneer  at 
Revivalism,  but  it  has  been  the  means  by  which 
hundreds  and  thousands  of  men  and  women 
have  found  their  way  to  a  higher  and  purer 
life.  The  Revivalist  may  seem  often  rude, 
uncultured,  even  vulgar,  but  in  his  untutored 
•eloquence  millions  of  men  have  heard  for  the 
first  time  the  echoes  of  the  Divine  voice  that 
spoke  on  Sinai,  while  the  penitent  form  and  the 
inquiry-room  have  been  to  many  a  sin-stricken 
soul  the  ante-chamber  of  heaven.  In  this 
practical  work-a-day  world  men  affect  great 
admiration  for  those  who  do  things,  as  opposed 
to  the  men  who  talk  about  them.  Revivalism 
has  done  things  which  the  more  cultured  and 
refined  would  not  even  have  ventured  to 
attempt. 

Nor  is  it  only  one  form  of  Revivalism  which 
has  come  to  us  from  the  United  States;  there 
has  been  a  long  list  of  Revivalists  whose 
services  were  greatly  welcomed  both  in  England 
and  in  the  States.  Of  these  the  best  known 
were  Moody  and  Sankey.  Moody  in  speech, 
and  Sankey  in  song,  exercised  a  wider  influence 
than  any  other  two  men  upon  the  British  people 
in  the  latter  half  of  last  century.  Sankey's  hymns 
still  hold  the  first  place  in  thousands  of  places  of 
worship  throughout  the  British  Empire.  They 
are  sung  much  more  constantly,  and  by  a  much 
greater  number  of  peoi)le,  than  any  other 
songs,  with  the  one  exception  of  the  National 
Anthem. 

The  second  great  contribution  which  America 
has  made  to  the  religious  life  of  the  world  is 
one,  the  full  significance  of  which  is  appreciated 
by  few.  The  strange,  mysterious  phenomena 
of  Spiritualism  first  began  to  be  noticed  at  what 
are  known  as  the  Hydesville  rappings  in  about 
the  middle  century.  But  it  was  not  until  D.  D. 
Home  began  todevelop  his  mediumship  about  the 
time  when  England  was  weltering  in  the  bloody 
morass  of  the  Crimean  War,  that  the  outside 
world  recognised  the  dawning  of  a  new  force  in 
the  world.  D.  D.  Home,  like  Mr.  Carnegie, 
was  born  in  Scotland,  but  he  crossed  the 
Atlantic  when  nine  years  of  age,  and  did  not 
return  to  his  native  land  until  he  had  been 
thoroughly  Americanised.  Of  his  mediumship 
and  his  extraordinary  missionary  tour  through- 
out the  Courts  and  capitals  of  Europe,  it  is  not 
necessary  to  do  more  than  make  mention.  The 
majority  abused  him  as  a  charlatan.  Robert 
Browning  ridiculed  him  as  "  Sludge  the 
Medium  " ;  but  his  wife,  much  more  spiritually 
gifted  -than  he,  recognised  the  reality  of  the 
phenomena   which   held  out   to   mankind    the 


promise   of  the   possibility   of  communication 
with  those  who  had  passed  beyond  the  veil. 

This  is  not  the  occasion  for  discussing  the 
value  of  the  contribution  which  Spiritualism  has 
made,  or  rather  the  promise  which  it  holds  out 
of  making,  to  the  solution  of  the  great  pro- 
blem —  if  a  man  die,  shall  he  live  again  ? 
but  it  is  sufficient  to  mention  two  facts.  One 
was  the  saying  of  Lord  Brougham,  "  that  even 
in  the  most  cloudless  skies  of  scepticism,  I 
see  a  rain-cloud,  if  it  be  no  bigger  than  a  man's 
hand.  It  is  modern  Spiritualism."  The  other 
is  the  fact  that  many  of  the  most  eminent  of 
modern  scientists,  men  of  the  standing  of  Sir 
William  Crookes,  Professor  Alfred  Russel 
Wallace,  and  Camille  Flammarion,  have  publicly 
asserted  their  belief  in  the  reality  of  the  pheno- 
mena commonly  called  spiritistic  ;  and  that  the 
late  Mr.  Myers,  after  devoting  a  quarter  of  a 
century  to  a  painstaking  scientific  investigation 
of  psychical  phenomena,  arrived  before  his  death 
at  the  firm  conviction  that  the  persistence  of  the 
personality,  after  the  dissolution  of  the  body, 
was  capable  of  scientific  demonstration.  For 
my  own  part,  I  can  only  say  that  I  entertain  no 
firmer  conviction  than  that  this  doctrine  is  as 
the  stone  which  the  builders  rejected,  which  has 
become  the  head-stone  of  the  corner.  When 
the  persistence  of  the  soul  after  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  body  has  been  found  to  be  as 
capable  of  scientific  verification  as  any  other 
fact  in  nature,  it  will  constitute  a  political, 
social,  and  moral  revolution  of  unspeakable 
magnitude. 

The  next  movement  of  religious  origin 
which  has  influenced  the  world  was  the  com- 
bination of  temperance  enthusiasm  with  the 
recognition  of  the  right  of  women  to  full  citizen- 
ship. It  would  be  too  much  to  claim  that  the 
temperance  movement  had  its  origin  in  the  United 
States,  but  it  undoubtedly  has  drawn  no  small 
portion  of  its  strength  from  New  England.  The 
State  of  Maine  has  long  occupied  a  prominent 
position  as  a  Prohibition  State,  and  the  Maine 
Liquor  Law  has  for  fifty  years  been  the  object 
of  the  despairing  admiration  of  prohibitionists 
in  Great  Britain  and  in  the  Colonies.  The 
movement  for  the  emancipation  of  women  did 
not  originate  in  the  United  States.  Mary 
Wollstonecraft  may  fairly  be  regarded  as  the 
prophetess  of  her  sex.  But  it  was  not  until  the 
Americans  took  up  the  question  seriously  that 
the  question  of  the  enfranchisement  of  women 
came  within  the  pale  of  practical  politics.  To 
this  day  it  is  only  in  some  of  the  States  of  the 
American  Union,  and  quite  recently  in  Australia 
and  New  Zealand,  that  the  right  of  women  to 
full  citizenship  has  been  fully  recognised.  The 
two  movements  may  be  said  to  have  been  com- 
bined in  the  Women's  Christian   Temperance 


104 


The  Aitiericanisation  of  the   World. 


Union,*  which  had  its  centre  in  Chicago,  with 
Miss  Willard  as  its  inspiring  spirit.  The 
Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union  is  one 
of  the  world-wide  organisations  which  took  their 
rise  in  America,  and  have  since  estabUshed 
branches  in  every  part  of  the  EngUsh-speaking 
world.  Its  indirect  influence  in  compelling 
women  at  once  to  realise  their  responsibility 
and  to  recognise  their  capacity  to  serve  the 
State  in  the  promotion  of  all  that  tends  to 
preserve  the  purity  and  sanctity  of  the  home,  has 
been  by  no  means  one  of  the  least  contributions 
which  America  had  made  to  the  betterment  of 
the  world. 

The  fourth  movement  which,  beginning  in 
America,  has  Americanised  every  English-speak- 
ing land,  is  the  Christian  Endeavour  movement. 
The  Christian  Endeavour  movement  is  the 
latest  born  but  one  of  the  most  thriving  illus- 
trations of  the  enthusiasmof  humanity  organised 
under  Christian  auspices.  It  was  first  founded 
in  the  State  of  Maine  by  the  Rev.  Francis 
E.  Clark.  It  has  since  encircled  the  world 
with  a  chain  of  associated  societies,  all  of  which 
are  organised  on  the  same  general  principles 
for  the  attainment  of  the  same  beneficent  end.f 
The  Christian  Endeavour  movement  appeals 
primarily  to  the  young,  which  is  in  itself  a  dis- 
tinctively American  characteristic ;  it  asserts  the 
absolute  equality  of  the  sexes,  the  binding  obli- 
gation of  the  moral  law  upon  man  and  woman 
alike;  it  inculcates  temperance,  and — therein 
differing  from  many  distinctively  Evangelical 
movements — it  asserts  in  the  strongest  terms 
the  duty  of  its  members  to  try  to  purify 
public  life,  and  to  use  the  power  of  the  State 
to  help  on  good  work.  It  is  quite  possible 
that  many  of  those  who  read  these  pages  may 
never  have  heard  of  the  existence  of  the  Chris- 
tian Endeavour  or  the  Women's  Christian 
Temperance  Union,  or  if  they  have  heard  the 
titles,  have  regarded  them  as  sounds  without 
meaning ;  but  none  the  less  for  that,  are  they 
living  and  growing  organisations,  for  the  like  of 
which  we  look  in  vain  in  any  similar  societies 
founded  in  the  same  period  in  the  United 
Kingdom.  In  all  these  four  there  is  no  pre- 
tension that  Americans  are  being  Anglicised. 

Apart,  however,  from  these  distinct  move- 
ments, which  are  not  dependent  for  their  exist- 
ence  on  any   English   organisations,   there   is 

*  The  Women's  Christian  Union  has  now  half  a 
million  members,  300,000  of  whom  are  in  the  United 
States,  100,000  in  Great  Britain.  There  are  fifty-eight 
countries  and  colonies  represented  in  the  Union. 

t  The  following  figures  are  (juoted  from  the  latest 
returns  published  by  the  Christian  P^ndeavour  Union. 
Number  of  Christian  Endeavour  Societies  in  1901, 
61,605,  with  a  total  membership  of  3,695,280.  Of  these 
societies  43,848  are  "Young  People's,"  and  16,195 
"Juniors." 


another  very  potent  spiritual  influence  pro- 
foundly affecting  the  religious  life  of  millions, 
which  has  been  exercised  by  certain  notable 
Americans,  whom  it  is  sufficient  to  mention. 
Among  those  who  have  contributed  to  broaden 
the  religious  outlook  of  the  English-speaking 
world,  are  Channing,  Emerson,  and  Theodore 
Parker,  and  James  Russell  Lowell,  who  embodied 
in  verse  the  transcendental  philosophy  which 
Emerson  crystallised  in  his  essays.  Next  to 
them,  although  nearer  to  the  pale  of  the 
orthodox  Church,  was  the  brilliant  orator  and 
catholic-minded  philanthropist,  Henry  Ward 
Beecher.  Still  farther  removed  from  orthodoxy, 
but  still  distinct  forces  in  the  religious  life  o4 
our  race,  were  thinkers  like  James  Fiske,  Dr. 
Draper  and  Mr.  A.  D.  White. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  close  this  im- 
perfect and  cursory  survey  of  the  religious 
influence  which  America  and  the  Americans 
have  brought  to  bear  upon  the  religious  life  of 
the  world,  without  at  least  a  parting  tribute  to 
the  memory  of  Father  Hecker.  The  United 
States  of  America,  being  predominantly  Protes- 
tant, has  influenced  most  directly  those  parts 
of  the  world  which  have  broken  loose  from  the 
papal  dominion.  It  is  the  glory  of  Father  Hecker 
that  he  succeeded,  to  a  large  extent,  in  infusing 
a  spirit  of  healthy  Americanism  into  the  life  of 
the  Church  of  Rome.  The  forces  of  reaction, 
it  is  true,  have  triumphed  for  a  time,  and  the 
doctrines  of  Americanism  lie  -under  the  ban 
of  the  Vatican,  but  the  work  which  Father 
Hecker  did,  and  the  principles  which  he  taught, 
still  continue  to  bear  fruit.  The  Roman 
Catholics  of  America,  like  loyal  sons  of  the 
Church,  have  bowed  submissively  to  their 
teacher's  decree.  But  the  present  century  wiU 
not  be  much  older  before  Rome  will  again 
find  its  base  washed  by  the  rising  tide  of  the 
American  spirit.  It  is  probable  that  the  Pope, 
whoever  he  may  be,  will  again  pronounce  his 
condemnation.  But  when  the  tide  rises  for  a 
third  time,  the  supreme  Pontiff  will  recognise 
that  the  principles  of  Americanism  are  part 
and  parcel  of  the  sacred  deposit  of  truth  which 
it  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  sedulously  to  pre- 
serve and  to  disseminate  among  the  nations  erf 
the  earth. 


Chapter  II. — Literature  and  Journalism. 

Till  comparatively  recent  years  it  was  the 
fashion  to  deny  that  America  had  produced  any 
literature.  Not  a  quarter  of  a  century  since 
supercilious  British  culture  disdained  even  to 
know  of  the  existence  of  such  a  person  as  Mark 
Twain,  and  this  hauteur  on  our  side  -was  en- 
couraged by  a  humility  on  the  other  side  which 


Photograpk  by  T/ieo  C.  A/arccan.] 


MA.-iK    TWAIN    AT  HOME 


io6 


The  Americanisation  of  the   World, 


does  not  entirely  accord  with  our  conception  of 
the  American  character.  In  his  "  Fable  for 
Critics,"  Russell  Lowell  makes  one  author  say  : — 

*'  His  American  puffs  he  will  willingly  burn  all. 
To  gain  but  a  kick  from  a  transmarine  journal." 

Down  to  the  middle  of  the  century  and  later 
American  literature  was  largely  a  reflex  of 
English  literature.  The  influence  of  the  new 
environment  had  not  materially  affected  the 
character  of  the  transplanted  stock. 

But  all  that  has  now  disappeared.  American 
literature,  like  the  American  Constitution,  is  a 
thing  which,  while  it  bears  ample  evidence  of 
the  parent  from  which  it  sprang,  is  nevertheless 
distinct,  original,  and  independent.  The  old, 
almost  pathetic  humility  with  which  American 
writers  listened  to  the  criticisms  of  Europe,  has 
disappeared.  The  American  is  rapidly  be- 
coming as  self-assertive  in  literature  as  he  has 
long  been  in  other  departments  of  human 
activity,  and  in  proportion  as  he  becomes  self- 
conscious  and  self-reliant  we  may  expect  to 
find  him  exercising  increasing  influence  on  the 
literature  of  the  world. 

This  is  no  place  for  a  critical  estimate  of 
American  literature  as  such.  I  am  merely  con- 
cerned in  noting  the  influence  which  American 
writers  have  had  upon  the  world  outside 
America,  and  especially  the  Mother  Country. 
Even  in  the  first  half  of  the  century  Americans 
were  still  largely  under  the  influence  of  English 
tradition ;  they  produced  many  writers  whose 
works  constituted  no  small  addition  to  the 
common  stock  of  the  literature  of  the  English- 
speaking  race.  Books  which  are  never  read 
outside  the  American  Union  may  indirectly 
have  affected  human  thought  by  the  extent  to 
which  they  inspired  foreign  writers ;  but  the 
direct  influence  of  American  books  on  the  non- 
American  world  can  best  be  gauged  by  the 
American  books  which  the  non-Americans  read. 
This  reduces  the  examination  of  the  influence 
of  American  literature  to  an  inquiry  in  the  first 
instance,  at  least,  as  to  what  American  authors 
were  read  in  Europe. 

The  Americans  being  pre-eminently  poli- 
ticians, much  of  their  genius  for  political  ex- 
pression found  vent  in  political  oratory  ;  but  the 
oratory  of  politicians  needs  no  Chinese  wall  or 
prohibition  tariff  to  confine  its  consumption 
within  the  country  of  origin.  The  fathers  of 
the  American  Constitution,  the  statesmen  and 
political  thinkers  and  judges  who  moulded  its 
early  development,  are  practically  unknown  to 
the  ordinary  European.  Educated  Englishmen, 
and  some  politicians  interested  in  the  working 
of  the  federal  principle,  have  read  the  books 
which  form  the  political  Scriptures  of  the 
American   politicians ;    but,    speaking   broadly, 


we  get  their  influence  second-hand  through 
Tocquevjlle  and  Mr.  Bryce. 

The  influence  of  religion  was  hardly  second 
to  that  of  politics  in  the  New  England  States, 
and  the  pulpit  for  many  years  divided  with  the 
forum  the  articulate  genius  of  America.  But  I 
have  already  touched  upon  the  influence  of 
America  on  the  religious  life  of  the  world,  and 
in  this  chapter  I  will  deal  more  distinctly  with 
their  contributions  to  literature  in  the  shape  of 
printed  books. 

The  first  American  whose  writings  were 
widely  circulated  in  this  country,  and  who 
exercised  a  perceptible  although  slight  influence 
upon  English  thought,  was  Benjamin  Franklin. 
He  has  gone  out  of  vogue  in  the  last  thirty 
years,  but  in  the  first  half  of  the  century  the 
proverbial  wisdom  of  "  Poor  Richard's  Almanac  " 
was  familiar  in  many  English  households. 
Franklin  was  a  much  greater  name  to  our 
grandfathers  than  he  is  to-day :  it  is  possible 
that  after  a  period  of  comparative  obscurity  his 
reputation  may  revive  throughout  the  English- 
speaking  world. 

De  Tocqueville  did  more  to  make  Ameri- 
can political  thought  a  potent  influence  in 
Europe  than  any  native  writers.  The  first 
Americans  to  be  extensively  read  in  this  country 
were  the  group  of  New  Englanders  who  made 
Boston  the  literary  centre  of  the  New  World. 
Foremost  among  these  was  Emerson,  whose 
essays  are  probably  read  to-day  in  England  more 
than  those  of  any  English  writer.  His  "  English 
Traits "  figures  in  the  list  of  almost  every 
popular  series  of  reprints,  and  his  siiletto-like 
sentences  continue  to  administer  subcutaneous 
injections  of  transcendental  philosophy  to  the 
somewhat  adipose  tissue  of  John  Bull.  Emerson 
may  be  regarded  as  the  literary  and  philoso- 
phical flower  which  blossomed  on  the  somewhat 
thorny  stem  of  seven  generations  of  Puritan 
preachers  from  whom  he  was  descended.  The 
roots  of  him  were  buried  deep  ui  the  granite  of 
Calvinistic  Puritanism,  but  the  growth  of  two 
centuries  culminated  in  the  evolution  of  the 
mystical  piety  and  poetical  philosophy  of  the 
Sage  of  Concord.  The  ethical  fruit  of  centuries 
of  Puritan  preachings,  and  the  stern  discipUne 
of  the  New  England  Chiistianity,  are  minted 
into  a  kind  of  universal  currency  in  the  winged 
words  and  pregnant  apothegms  of  Emerson. 
On  our  library  shelves  he  stands  among,  the 
first  five  essayists  who  are  read  everywhere 
to-day  —  Montaigne,  Bacon,  Addison,  Lamb, 
Emerson.  Of  these  five,  Emerson,  so  far  as 
the  general  reader  is  concerned,  is  probably 
first  or  second. 

After  Emerson,  Longfellow  was  the  American 
author  most  appreciated  by  the  English-speaking 
world.     It  is  probable  that  to  this  day  by  the 


Literattirc  and  yotirnalisni. 


107 


million  he  is  the  best  known  poet  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  if  we  exclude  the  poets  who  were 
born  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and 
who  blossomed  into  song  in  the  first  decade.  If 
we  were  to  attempt  to  estimate  quantitatively  the 
infusion  of  poetry  which  has  been  administered 
by  the  poets  of  England  and  America  to  the 
English-speaking  man,  it  would  probably  be 
found  that  he  had  absorbed  a  larger  dose  of 
Longfellow  than  of  any  poet  of  the  old  country. 
Taking  the  English-speaking  world,  even  out- 
side the  United  States  of  America,  it  is  probable 
that  there  are  ten  persons  who  are  more  or  less 
acquainted  with  Longfellow  for  one  who  has 
read  Tennyson,  and  a  hundred  have  read  Long- 
fellow for  one  who  has  read  Swinburne. 

It  is  the  fashion  to  say  that  Longfellow  was 
not  American.  His  culture  was  distinctly 
European,  and  the  tendency  of  his  verse  bears 
no  relation  to  the  American  spirit  as  we  under- 
stand it  to-day.  There  is  in  it  none  of  the 
hustle  and  the  bustle  and  the  intense  strain  of 
nervous  irritability  which  distinguish  the  modern 
American  type ;  but  in  estimating  the  influence 
of  America  upon  the  world  it  is  well  to  remember 
that  the  mild  singer  of  the  "  Psalm  of  Life,"  "  The 
Village  Blacksmith,"  "  Excelsior,"  and  a  score 
of  similar  poems  which  have  passed  into  the 
common  stock  of  the  poetic  thought  of  the 
common  people,  was  by  birth  an  American. 

The  only  other  American  poet,  until  we 
come  to  Whitman — who  revolted  against  the 
European  tradition — whose  influence  can  be 
named  beside  that  of  Longfellow,  was  James 
Russell  Lowell.  Lowell,  indeed,  may  be  said 
to  have  succeeded  Longfellow,  and  to  a  certain 
extent  to  have  superseded  him  in  direct  influence 
upon  the  English  masses.  Although  three- 
fourths  of  his  "  Biglow  Papers  "  are  seldom  read, 
the  remaining  quarter  has  passed  into  the  com- 
mon stock  of  our  thought.  For  years  Lowell 
was  only  known  by  his  "  liiglow  Papers,"  and  it 
was  not  until  the  later  sixties  that  his  merit  as 
a  serious  poet  began  slowly  to  gain  recogni- 
tion. It  was  not  until  the  nineties  that  the 
English  public  woke  up  to  realise  the  ethical  value 
and  political  insi)iration  of  his  serious  verse. 
When  popular  feeling  is  deeply  stirred,  and 
in  times  of  strain  and  of  crisis  it  is  rare 
indeed  to  attend  an  English  political  meeting, 
or  even  hear  a  pulpit  utterance  in  the  more 
advanced  churches,  in  which  you  do  not  hear 
one  or  more  quotations  from  Russell  Lowell. 
He  has  been,  and  is,  a  subtle  power,  making 
always  for  liberty,  for  charity,  for  righteousness. 
Of  all  the  influences  by  which  America  lias 
affected,  and  is  affecting,  the  English-speaking 
race,  that  of  Lowell  is  one  of  the  most  valuable. 
Whittier,  John  Bright's  favourite  poet,  has 
gained   in   popularity   of  late  years.      But   he 


does  not  attain  to  the  vogue  of  Longfellow  and 
Lowell. 

In  tlie  world  of  fiction  America  has  produced 
two  writers,  each  of  whom  has  written  one  book 
that  profoundly  influenced  the  non-American 
world.  One  was  a  man,  the  other  a  woman. 
The  man  was  Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  and  his 
one  book  was  "  The  Scarlet  Letter."  The 
woman  was  Mrs.  Beecher  Stowe,  and  her  one 
book  was  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin."  Both  Haw- 
thorny  and  Mrs.  Stowe  wrote  many  other 
novels,  which  were  read  with  admiration  when 
they  appeared,  and  may  be  still  read  with 
advantage  ;  but  although  much  of  Hawthorne's 
work  is  still  widely  read,  none  of  his  works,  nor 
all  of  them  put  together,  have  produced  so  deep 
an  impression  as  his  "  Scarlet  Letter." 

As  the  years  pass,  its  influence  has  increased 
rather  than  diminished,  and  it  remains  at  this 
day  one  of  the  first,  if  not  the  first,  novel  of  its 
kind  in  the  English  language  for  its  brevity,  its 
pathos,  and  its  force.  Against  a  vast  background 
of  dimly  remembered  novels  of  passion  and  of 
penitence,  it  stands  out  as  distinct  as  did  the 
Scarlet  Letter  upon  the  bosom  of  Hester  Prynne. 

Mrs.  Stowe's  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin "  was 
famous  as  the  first  American  work  which  had 
literally  a  world-wide  audience.  Mrs.  Stowe 
was  fortunate  in  her  subject,  fortunate  in  the 
moment  when  she  published  her  book,  and 
specially  fortunate  in  the  spirit  with  which  she 
handled  her  story.  When  you  read  "  Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin"  to-day  the  artlessness  about  its 
art  makes  you  sometimes  marvel  that  a  book 
so  slight  should  have  produced  so  immense 
an  effect.  But  the  book  came  as  a  revela- 
tion, not  merely  of  the  realities  of  slavery  in 
the  Southern  States,  but  of  the  existence  of 
a  high  and  noble  humanity  under  the  skin  of 
the  coloured  man.  Enghshmen  for  a  couple  of 
generations  had  been  taught  to  sympathise 
with  the  negro.  The  proj)aganda  of  our  early 
abolitionists  forms  one  of  the  finest  chapters 
in  the  history  of  the  early  years  of  the  nine- 
teenth century ;  but  our  grandfathers  cared  for 
the  negro  very  much  as  the  anti-vivisection- 
ists  care  for  the  dogs  and  rabbits  who  are 
subjected  to  the  torture  of  the  physiological 
laboratory.  If  we  could  imagine  some  sympa- 
thetic genius  who  could  suddenly  make  the 
tortured  rabbit  of  the  vivisector  speak  like  a 
human  being,  and  we  could  see  its  heart  palpi- 
tate with  all  the  noble  emotions  of  the  parent 
and  the  saint,  the  effect  would  be  somewhat 
analogous  to  that  which  was  produced  by  the 
sudden  apparition  of  Uncle  Tom.  The  white 
world  had  never  before  realised  the  essential 
humanity  of  the  negro.  It  was  admitted  as  an 
abstract  proposition  that  he  was  a  hum-an  being, 
but  that  he  was  actually  a  fellow-creature  with 


HENRY    WADSWORTH    LONGFELLOW. 


JAMES   RUSSELL    LOWELL. 


HENRY   GEORGE. 


RALPH   WALDO   EMERSON.      . 


Literattire  and  yournalism. 


109 


the  same  passions  as  ours,  that  he  lived  and 
loved  and  sorrowed  and  died  even  as  we,  and 
that  in  his  heart  throbbed  the  same  tumultuous 
eddies  of  emotion  as  those  which  we  experience 
was  a  truth  which  it  was  reserved  to  Mrs.  Stowe 
to  discover  and  to  make  the  universal  possession 
of  mankind.  Her  book  sped  hke  wildfire 
throughout  the  whole  reading  world.  The  print- 
ing-presses toiled  in  vain  to  keep  up  with  the 
demand  for  copies  of  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin," 
while  translators  in  every  country  in  Europe 
exhausted  their  ingenuity  to  invent  foreign 
equivalents  for  the  quaint  lingo  of  the  southern 
plantations.  Negro  slavery  in  Southern  States 
was  swept  away  by  the  tremendous  besom  of  the 
Civil  War,  but  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  "  continues 
to  be  read  throughout  the  world,  and  dramatised 
versions  still  continue  to  attract  audiences  in 
English  theatres.  To  this  day,  if  you  take  a 
million  white-skinned  men,  women,  and  children, 
you  will  find  a  larger  percentage  who  are  familiar 
with  Uncle  Tom,  Legree,  Topsy  and  Eva,  than 
are  acquainted  with  the  names  of  any  American 
Presidents,  with  the  exception  of  Washington 
and  Lincoln,  or  any  American  men  of  letters 
without  any  exception  whatever.  To  the  mass 
of  Europeans  of  the  latter  half  of  last  century, 
Mrs.  Stowe  was  the  only  interpreter  of  American 
life  whom  they  knew  and  in  whom  they  believed. 
By  her  book,  whatever  may  be  said  of  its  merits 
or  demerits,  she  undoubtedly  contributed  not  a 
little  to  swell  the  tide  of  sympathy  and  com- 
passion,'even  with  the  most  forlorn  and  degraded 
of  the  human  race,  a  tide  which  alas,  to-day, 
seems  somewhat  on  the  ebb. 

Even  in  the  most  rapid  survey  of  Americans 
who  have  exercised  literary  influence  outside 
America,  due  honour  must  be  paid  to  the  weird, 
fantastic,  and  somewhat  morbid  genius  of  Edgar 
Allan  Poe.  His  influence  may  be  traced  in 
many  directions,  and  the  note  which  he  sounded 
— original,  distinct,  and  lonesome,  has  waked 
many  echoes. 

An  American  author  who  had  great  vogue  in 
the  middle  of  the  century,  but  whose  novels  are 
hardly  looked  at  to-day,  was  Fenimore  Cooper, 
whose  "  Last  of  the  Mohicans,"  and  other  Indian 
stories,  were  the  delight  of  our  boyhood.  His 
turn  may  come  again,  but  for  the  moment  he  is 
no  longer  in  demand. 

Washington  Irving,  an  earlier  writer  of  more 
varied  range,  has  always  commanded  a  public. 
He  did  much  to  familiarise  Americans  with 
English  life,  and  his  "  Rip  van  Winkle"  has 
added  an  imperishable  figure  to  the  Elysian 
fields  in  which  dwell  the  immortals  of  modern 
romance. 

Of  the  American  historians,  Parkman  and 
Bancroft  have  exercised  but  little  influence 
outside  the  United  States.    Prescott  and  Motley 


rendered  yeomen's  service  in  popularising 
history,  and  their  works  at  once  took  the  place 
among  the  foremost  historians  of  the  world. 
Motley  to-day  is  as  popular  as  Macaulay,  and  is 
quite  as  widely  read.  He  may  be  counted  as 
one  of  those  who  contributed  to  enlighten  the 
more  thoughtful  Englishmen  as  to  the  real 
significance  of  the  struggle  which  is  raging  in 
South  Africa. 

Coming  down  to  more  recent  times,  Walt 
Whitman  may  be  regarded  as  the  first  American 
who,  with  barbaric  yawp,  startled  the  Old  World 
by  a  message  of  defiance  and  revolt  Whitman 
aspired  to  be  the  Washington  of  literature,  to 
break  the  fetters  of  old  tradition,  to  which  all 
American  poets  before  him  had  tamely  sub- 
mitted, and  to  found  a  new  school  of  American 
poetry,  which  was  to  be  without  form,  but  gravid 
with  the  new  message  of  the  New  World.  Whit- 
man, a  born  revolutionist,  began  by  revolution- 
ising the  laws  of  metre,  and  constructed  poems, 
the  like  of  which  had  never  before  been  printed 
in  English  characters.  He  was  not  so  success- 
ful as  Washington,  but  he  won  for  himself  a 
recognised  place  among  the  poets  of  our  time, 
and  enlarged  the  area  and  the  method  of  poetic 
expression.  Edward  Carpenter  in  this  country 
has  followed  in  his  steps,  but  Whitman's  in- 
fluence has  been  much  wider  than  that  of  his 
actual  imitators  and  disciples.  He  was  a  breezy, 
healthy,  virile  influence  in  modern  literature. 

One  of  the  most  distinctive  contributions 
which  America  has  made  to  the  literature  of  the 
world,  is  that  of  humour,  a  department  in  which 
the  Americans  have  left  their  English  kinsmen 
far  behind.  He  who  contributes  to  the  mirth 
of  the  world  makes  humanity  his  debtor,  and 
the  American  humorists  have  put  the  English- 
speaking  world  under  heavy  obligation.  Their 
export  is  balanced  by  no  corresponding  import, 
for  in  the  world  of  letters,  unlike  that  of  com- 
merce, there  is  no  necessary  reciprocity.  From 
the  days  of  Sam  Slick  down  to  those  of  Mr. 
Dooley,  there  has  been  an  unfailing  succession 
of  American  humorists  whose  writings  have 
done  much  to  drive  dull  care  away  in  many 
millions  of  homes.  Sam  Slick,  with  his  "  Wise 
Saws  and  Modern  Instances,"  is  not  an  American 
of  the  United  States,  for  he  hailed  from  the  pro- 
vince now  included  in  the  Canadian  Dominion  ; 
but  he  was  distinctively  American,  and  it  was 
he  who  made  Britain  acquainted  with  the 
peculiar  note  of  American  mirth. 

After  him  there  have  been  humorists  of  all 
kinds,  from  the  literary  humorist,  like  the 
genial  Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast-table,  down  to 
the  latest  arrival,  the  Irish  American  humorist 
who  has  familiarised  the  world  with  the  dialect 
and  the  philosophy  of  the  Chicago  saloon. 
Artemus  Ward,  at  one  time  in  the  ascendant. 


no 


The  Americanisation  of  the   World. 


has  been  eclipsed  by  Mark  Twain,  who  h  facile 
princeps  among  the  American  writers  of  to-day. 
There  is  no  American  author  whose  works  to- 
day are  as  widely  read  and  translated  into  so 
many  languages  as  those  of  Mr.  Samuel  Clemens. 
\\'liether  grave  or  gay,  he  can  always  command 
a  world-wide  public.  In  the  colonies,  he  is  as 
popular  as  in  the  Old  Country,  and  such  of  his 
humour  as  is  translatable  is  current  in  every 
European  country.  ■  The  Board  of  Trade  statis- 
tics take  no  account  of -the  product  of  humour; 
but  mankind  which  loves  laughter' feels  much 
more  grateful  to  the  owners  of  the  rare  gift 
which  enables  them  to  tickle  the  midriff  with 
printed  words  than  to  all  its  phitosophers. 
America  has  exported,  and  continues  to  export 
in  ever  increasing  quantities,  pills-  and .  drugs 
of  all  -kinds  ;  but  a  merry  heart  •  doeth  good 
like  a  niedicine,  and  Mark  Twain  has'  probably 
done  more  to  make  men  happy  and  healthy 
and  wise  than  all  the  artificers  of  patent 
medicines  who  contribute  so  liberally  to 
the  advertising  revenue  of  newspapers  and 
magazines. 

Uncle  Remus,  with  his  inimitable  Brer 
Rabbit  stories,  has  contributed  a  distinct  and 
welcome  novelty  to  the  humorous  literature  of 
the  world.  It  is  an  extraordinary  instance  of 
the  way  in  which  genuine  humour  can  triumph 
over  difficulties  of  dialect,  so  that  the  pubhc 
will  acquire  the  dialect  in  order  the  better  to 
appreciate  the  humour.  Mr.  Harris  has  achieved 
such  success  with  his  version  of  the  stories 
which  Uncle  Remus  told  to  the  little  boy,  that 
at  this  moment  Brer  Rabbit,  Brer  Fox,  Brer 
Terrapin,  to  mention  only  three  of  his  menagerie 
of  favourites,  are  much  better  known  and  much 
more  appreciated  outside  America  than  all  the 
American  politicians  who  have  won  fame  and 
glory  for  themselves  in  the  annals  of  the  United 
States. 

It  is  too  early  to  estimate  the  effect  of  the 
modern  American  novelist  upon  English  litera- 
ture, but  W.  D.  Howells,  F.  Marion  Crawford, 
and  Henry  James  are  among  the  authors  who 
appeal  to  the  whole  English-speaking  world. 
They  are  not  only  read  by  the  million,  but 
their  style  has  influenced  and  is  influencing 
more  and  more  the  new  school  of  British 
novelists. 

In  estimating  the  influence  which  Americans 
have  exercised  by  the  use  of  the  printed  book, 
it  is  impossible  to  overlook  the  immediate  and 
world-wide  influence  that  was  wielded  by  Henry 
George.  In  the  portrait  gallery  of  notables  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  which  has  just  been 
published  by  the  Berlin  Photographic  Company, 
Henry  George  occupies  a  distinguished  place  as 
one  of  the  Americans  of  international  fame. 
His  book  on  "  Progress  and  Poverty  "  was  one 


of  the  late  products  of  the  century,  it  had 
considerable  difficulty  in  finding  a  publisher  in 
the  land  of  its  birth ;  but  it  was  no  sooner  born 
into  the  world  than  it  was  hailed  by  multitudes 
in  every  part  of  the  British  Empire  and  also  on 
the  Continent  of  Europe  as  a  veritable  gospel  of 
these  latter  days. 

America,  which  represents  the  triumph  of 
individualism  pushed  to  an  extreme,  has  also 
produced  in  these  latter  days  some  of  the  books 
which  have  most  powerfully  re-acted  against 
individuahsm.  Bellamy's  "  Looking  Backward" 
is  perhaps  the  most  conspicuous  instance  of  a 
book  without  any  particular  literary  merit  which, 
nevertheless,  commanded  at  once  universal 
circulation,  owing  to  the  fact  that  it  portrayed 
in  stoVy  form  a  realised  dream  of  the  modern 
Socialist.  Sheldon's  books,  equally  devoid  of 
any  literary  charm,  commanded  readers  literally 
by  the  million,  owing  to  the  promise  which  they 
held  Out  of  better  things  to  come.  The 
American  Idealist  and  Socialist  who  will  have 
the  genius  to  express  with  literary  charm  his 
idealistic  visions  of  a  Socialist  millenium  will 
sweep  in  triumph  through  the  world. 

In  closing  this  very  imperfect  survey  of  the 
influence  of  American  books  on  the  non- 
American  world,  one  thing  is  obvious.  The 
influence  of  American  literature  has  been  dis- 
tinctly good.  What  there  is  of  evil  in  it  has 
been  consumed  at  home.  The  broad  Atlantic 
has  acted  as  a  potent  antiseptic,  which  has  killed 
noxious  germs  and  only  left  that  which  is  healthy, 
helpful,  and  human  to  reach  our  shores. 
American  humour  has  contributed  much  to  the 
gaiety  of  the  world,  and  American  poetry  has 
been  both  refining  and  inspiring  in  its  influence 
on  the  masses  of  our  people. 

The  influence  of  American  Socialists,  from 
the  days  of  Brook  Farm  down  to  the  specu- 
lations of  Mr.  H.  D.  Lloyd,  have  all  tended  in 
the  right  direction  in  widening  the  somewhat 
narrow  and  circumscribed  horizon  which  is 
indicated  by  the  phrase  "  the  range  of  practicaL_; 
politics."  The  influence  of  Henry  George  is 
very  marked  in  New  Zealand  and  in  the 
Australian  Colonies,  where  it  has  probably 
produced  much  more  direct  results  in  legislation  , 
than  in  the  country  which  gave  it  birth.  J 

American  journalism  is  a  much  more  dis^ 
tinctive  product  than  American  literature.  The 
American  newspaper,  thanks  to  the  absence  of 
paper  duties  and  of  advertisement  taxes,  became 
popular  long  before  the  English  newspaper. 
Fifty  years  ago  every  American  was  reading  a 
daily  newspaper,  whereas  in  England  not  one 
man  in  ten  could  afford  the  luxury.  Hence, 
the  popular  journalism  of  the  new  country  is 
really  older  than  the  popular  journalism  of  the 
old.     The   cheap   press   with  us  is   only  forty 


Literature  and  y ournalisfu. 


I II 


years  old.  In  America  it  is  at  least  twice  tliat 
age.  The  American  newspaper  from  the  first 
was  racy  of  the  soil,  was  close  to  its  constitu- 
ency, and  represented  far  more  faithfully  than 
its  English  contemporaries  the  aspirations,  the 
ideas,  and  the  prejudices  of  the  masses  of 
the  people.  These  characteristics  it  has  pre- 
served to  this  day.  The  American  news- 
paper is  the  mirror  of  the  life  of  the  American 
people.  It  partakes  of  all  their  characteristics, 
their  virtues,  and  the  vices  of  their  virtues.  It 
is  as  huge  as  the  continent  in  which  it  is  pro- 
duced, and  it  is  often  as  crude  as  the  half-settled 
territories  over  which  the  American  people 
sprawl.  It  is  the  fashion  among  English  people, 
especially  among  those  who  know  nothing  about 
it,  to  sneer  at  American  newspapers  ;  but  take 
them  altogether,  the  American  newspaper  is  dis- 
tinctly ahead  of  its  English  contemporaries.  To 
begin  with,  there  is  more  of  it,  more  news,  more 
advertisements,  more  paper,  more  print.  Life 
would  be  impossible  in  America  to  any  American 
if  he  had  to  read  the  whole  of  his  newspaper ;  but 
just  as  the  people  have  wide  and  varied  tastes,  and 
the  interests  of  the  whole  community  have  to  be 
catered  for,  everything  goes  in,  and  no  reader  is 
expected  to  do  more  than  assimilate  just  such 
portion  of  the  mammoth  sheet  as  meets  his  taste. 
Hence  the  busiest  people  in  the  world,  who  have 
less  time  for  deliberate  reading  than  any  race, 
buy  regularly  morning  and  evening  more  printed 
matter  than  would  fill  a  New  Testament,  and 
on  Sundays  would  consider  themselves  defrauded 
if  they  did  not  have  a  bale  of  printed  matter 
delivered  at  their  doors  almost  equal  in  bulk  to 
a  family  Bible.  They  do  not  read  it  all,  any  more 
than  a  cow  eats  all  the  grass  of  the  meadow  into 
which  she  is  turned  loose  to  graze.  They  browse 
over  it,  picking  here  and  there  such  a  tasty 
herbage  as  may  suit  their  palates.  In  this 
way  a  newspaper  comes  to  be  almost  like 
a  Gazetteer  or  an  Encyclopaedia.  No  one  sits 
down  and  reads  a  dictionary  from  end  to 
end.  He  dips  into  it.  So  Americans  dip 
into  their  papers  for  what  they  want.  Un- 
fortunately newspapers,  unlike  dictionaries,  are 
incapable  of  alphabetical  classification.  Hence 
arises  the  tendency  which  offends  so  many 
English  readers,  of  exaggerated  headings  or 
scare-heads,  as  they  are  called  in  the  slang  of 
the  profession.  The  readers  of  the  Times,  which 
rarely  ventures  upon  a  double  heading,  excepting 
on  the  outbreak  of  a  war  or  the  overturning  of  a 
dynasty,  are  unspeakably  offended  by  finding  the 
ordinary  news  set  out  with  half-a-dozen  head- 
lines with  staring  capitals.  But  these  headlines 
are  almost  indispensable  as  a  guide  to  the 
contents  of  the  paper,  and  as  a  corrective  of  the 
excessive  smallness  of  the  type  in  which  American 
papers  are  printed.     A  man  hurrying  to  business 


in  a  tramcar  or  railway  can  read  the  scare-heads 
without  straining  his  eyesight,  and  by  running 
his  eyes  along  the  tops  of  the  columns,  obtains 
not  only  a  very  fiiir  idea  of  the  contents  of  the 
paper,  but  also  discovers  what  particular  column 
it  is  necessary  for  him  to  read. 

The  scare-head  is  like  the  display  in  the 
show  window  in  which  the  tradesman  sets  out 
his  wares.  The  art  of  wintlow-dressing  is  be- 
ginning to  be  acclimatised  among  us,  and  so  is 
the  art  of  scare-heading.  Comparatively  few 
English  journalists  have  appreciated  the  fact 
that  good  journalism  consists  much  more  in  the 
proper  labelling  and  displaying  of  your  goods 
than  in  the  writing  of  leading  articles.  The 
intrinsic  value  of  news  is  a  quality  which  does 
not  depend  upon  the  editor,  but  the  method  of 
display  and  the  setting  of  the  diamond  is  that 
which  affords  scope  for  the  editorial  art. 

American  journalism,  as  compared  with  that 
of  Great  Britain,  is  more  enterprising,  more 
energetic,  more  extravagant,  and  more  un- 
scrupulous. The  staider  traditions  of  ICnglish 
newspapers  restrain  even  the  most  reckless  of 
pressmen  within  narrower  limits  than  the  broad 
field  in  which  many  American  journalists  are 
permitted  to  wander.  The  interview  was  a  dis- 
tinctively American  invention,  which  has  been 
acclimatised  in  this  country,  although  with  odd 
limitations.  The  Times,  for  instance,  will  never 
publish  an  interview  with  any  person  if  it  takes 
place  on  British  soil,  but  if  the  same  person  is 
interviewed  by  one  of  its  foreign  correspondents 
and  the  interview  is  sent  over  the  wires,  it 
appears  without  question. 

American  newspapers  differ  endlessly.*  There 
are  some  that  are  almost  as  staid,  not  to  say 
stodgy,  as  any  paper  published  in  Great  Britain. 
There  are  others  that  go  to  the  furthest  extreme 
of  vulgar  sensationalism ;  but  setting  one  oft' 
against  the  other,  the  American  newspaper  is 
much  more  varied  in  its  contents  than  the 
journals  of  the  Old  World.  They  have  more 
space,  and  they  take  much  greater  pains  to 
serve    up   their    news   in    a    vivid,    interesting 

*  I  very  much  dislike  overloading  my  pages  with 
statistics,  and  prefer,  when  possible,  to  relegate  unread- 
able columns  of  figures  to  a  foot-note.  The  following 
figures,  extracted  from  the  United  States  Treasury 
Department's  Report  on  the  progress  of  the  United 
States  and  its  material  industries,  are  too  suggestive  to  be 
omitted. 

1870.  1900 

Population  ....  .  38,55^071  76,303.387 
Salaries     paid     in     Public 

Schools $37,832,566     $128,662,880 

Newspa]iersand  Periodicals  5,871  21,178 

Post-Offices  in  existence    .  28,492  76,668 

Receipts  of  Post-Office  De- 
partment       ....     $19,772,221     $102,354,579 
Telegraph  messages  sent    .         9,157,646  79,696,227 

Railways       in      operation 

(miles) 52,922  190,883 


I  12 


The  Americanisation  of  the  World. 


manner.  No  doubt,  American  journalism  has 
the  faults  of  its  qualities,  and  the  perpetual 
straining  after  immediate  effect  is  often  indulged 
in  with  disastrous  results  to  what  an  English 
iournalist  would  regard  as  consistency  and 
decorum.  Whatever  ministers  most  effectively 
to  the  mood  of  the  moment  is  supplied  hot  and 
strong  from  the  press,  and  if  the  mood  of  the 
moment  changes,  then  the  subject  is  dropped 
incontinently,  as  if  it  were  a  hot  potato.  There 
is  nothing  better  in  journalism  than  a  good 
interview  conscientiously  reported  by  a  capable 
journalist,  but  there  is  nothing  worse  than  many 
of  the  abominable  perversions  and  inventions 
which  are  often  served  up  under  that  head.  To 
make  a  story,  to  secure  a  "  beat "  of  news,  almost 
any  manoeuvre  is  regarded  as  legitimate,  with  the 
result  that  in  some  papers  the  value  of  an  inter- 
view is  as  much  depreciated  as  were  the  assignats 
in  the  critical  times  of  the  French  Revolution. 
Almost  all  the  best  dailies  in  America  devote 
considerable  space  to  illustrations  and  carica- 
tures, while  some  of  them  in  their  Sunday 
editions  produce  coloured  supplements  for  the 
amusement  of  children  with  which  we  have 
nothing  to  compare. 

The  British  Empire  is  sadly  lacking  in  capable 
caricaturists.  Since  Sir  John  Tenniel  retired 
Mr.  Gould  is  first  of  British  caricaturists,  and 
there  are  some  on  the  staff  of  Punch  who  are 
worthy  of  the  Tenniel  tradition.  Mr.  Furniss  is 
still  with  us,  but  has  fallen  far  below  the  level  of 
liis  best  days.  Mr.  Ben.  Gough  is  the  most 
capable  caricaturist  whom  Canada  has  produced, 
while  the  artists  of  the  Sydney  BuUet'm  and  the 
Melbourne  Punch  produce  work  which  is  certainly 
not  deficient  in  force  and  point.  But  there  are 
many  more  American  caricaturists  of  the  first 
rank  than  the  British.  Judge  and  Puck  have  the 
advantage  of  producing  their  cartoons  in  colour, 
but  the  men  on  Life,  to  say  nothing  of  those  on 
the  Journal  and  the  World  of  New  York,  and 
the  North  American  of  Philadelphia,  can  be 
relied  upon  to  turn  out  good  work  almost  every 
day.  One  of  the  most  capable  cartoonists  of 
the  United  States,  is  Mr.  Bart  of  the  Minneapolis 
Journal,  while  in  Mr.  P.  J.  Carter  the  Minnea- 
polis Times  possesses  a  very  smart  craftsman, 
Minneapolis  having  much  more  than  its  fair 
share  of  this  particular  kind  of  talent. 

It  is  in  the  newspaper  offices  that  the  drive, 
bustle  and  intense  strain  of  American  life  is  pre- 
eminently centred,  and  the  so-called  "yellow" 
iournals  are  those  where  the  national  character- 
istics find  the  freest  scope  and  the  widest  range. 
Among  "  yellow  "  papers  the  Hearst  papers  stand 
■  easily  conspicuous.  Mr.  PuUitzer  founded  this 
latter  day  journalism,  and  for  a  time  reigned  su- 
preme in  the  iVi7ze/  York  Herald.  His  success  pro- 
voked Mr.  W.  R.  Hearst  to  enter  the  field,  and  by 


dint  of  lavish  expenditure  and  great  journalistic 
flaire  he  succeeded  in  building  up  a  newspaper 
which  is  at  once  the  wonder  and  the  despair  of 
its  competitors.  Mr.  Hearst  is  still  a  young 
man,  with  command  of  unlimited  capital,  who 
has  spanned  the  continent  with  his  three  papers, 
the  New  York  Journal,  the  Chicago  American, 
and  the  San  Francisco  Examiner.  The  style  of 
all  these  journals  is  loud.  There  is  no  limit, 
save  that  of  the  typographer,  to  the  eccentricity 
which  they  adopt  for  the  purpose  of  displaying 
their  news,  and  of  calling  attention  to  their 
wares.  During  the  Cuban  War,  the  Jou/rnal 
would  sometimes  come  out  with  its  front  page 
consisting  solely  of  about  four  or  five  lines  in 
huge  type,  resembling  nothing  so  much  as  the 
news  bills  of  the  London  evening  papers.  But 
it  is  a  great  mistake  to  regard  the  New  York 
Journal  as  a  mere  catch-penny  news-sheet.  It 
is  a  paper  which  has  a  very  clearly  defined 
creed,  which  it  preaches  with  consistency  and 
energy.  It  is  true  that  the  preaching  friars  who 
use  it  as  their  rostrum  sometimes  "  ding  the 
pulpit  to  blads,"  but  when  you  are  addressing 
the  cosmopolitan,  polyglot,  very  busy  millions 
of  people  to  whom  the  Journal  appeals,  it  is 
impossible  to  speak  with  the  well-bred  whisper 
of  diplomacy.  There  is  a  difference,  of  course, 
between  the  diplomatic  whisper  and  the  mega- 
phonic  roar  of  \)o.t  Jojirnal,  but  the  wise  man 
looks  more  to  the  substance  of  what  is  said  than 
the  manner  of  its  delivery. 

Mr.  Hearst's  famous  definition  of  the  differ- 
ence between  journalism  that  does  things  and 
the  journalism  that  only  chronicles  them,  is 
continually  receiving  fresh  illustrations.  In  his 
own  way  he  has  grasped  the  idea,  not  perfectly 
but  still  resolutely,  of  government  by  journalism, 
and  when  experience  and  age  have  brought  a 
little  more  steadiness  Mr.  Hearst  may  become 
the  most  powerful  journalist  in  the  world.  He 
embodies  and  exaggerates  all  the  distinctively 
American  qualities  of  the  later  days.  He  is 
self-assertive,  pushing,  defiant,  and  determined 
at  whatever  cost  to  "  get  there  "  every  time.  It 
is  a  popular  superstition  among  the  respectable 
Americans  that  no  one  ever  reads  the  Journal. 
"  Its  name,  we  never  mention  it ;  oh,  no,  'tis 
never  heard,"  and  Mr.  Frederic  Harrison,  after 
making  a  prolonged  tour  in  the  United  States, 
was  able  to  assure  the  readers  of  the  Nineteenth 
Century  that  during  the  whole  of  his  travels  he 
had  never  once  met  any  person  who  ever  saw 
or  spoke  of  a  yellow  journal. 

"  Doth  not  Wisdom  cry  ?  and  understanding 
put  forth  her  voice  ?  She  standeth  in  the  top 
of  high  places,  by  the  way  in  the  places  of  the 
paths.  She  crieth  at  the  gates,  at  the  entry  of 
the  city,  at  the  coming  in  at  the  doors.  Unto 
you,  O  men,  I  call ;  and  my  voice  is  to  the 


Literature  and  yournalism. 


"3 


sons  of  man."  It  is  to  be  feared  that  a  good 
many  cultured  people  in  the  olden  time,  who 
dwelt  in  their  studies  or  in  their  lecture-rooms, 
were  as  deaf  to  the  voice  of  Wisdom  thus 
publicly  crying  in  the  highways  and  byways 
of  the  city  as  Mr.  Harrison  was  to  the  voice 
of  yellow  journalism.  No  one  can  under- 
stand America  to-day,  with  all  the  sum  of  its 
turbulent  activities,  with  its  best  and  its  worst, 
who  closes  his  eyes  to  the  so-called  "  yellow " 
journals.* 

One  of  the  most  recent  exploits  of  the  Hearst 
papers  was  to  assist  two  young  women  in 
Chicago  who,  on  behalf  of  the  Teachers'  Federa- 
tion, took  legal  action  for  the  purpose  of  com- 
pelling the  officials  to  make  a  fair  assessment  of 
property  in  Chicago.  As  the  result  of  the 
support  given  to  the  teachers,  property  valued 
at  ;^47,ooo,ooo  was  added  to  the  rateable  value 
of  the  city  of  Chicago,  which  rendered  it 
possible,  without  raising  the  rates,  to  add  half  a 
million  to  the  revenue  of  the  city.  The  Judge, 
in  giving  his  decision  on  the  question,  declared 
that  the  Chicago  American,  in  fighting  the  tax- 
dodgers,  had  been  fearless,  and  there  was  no 
question  of  its  devotion  to  public  honesty.  As 
the  yb;/r;7<j'/ pleasantly  remarked  :  "  This  is  only 
•one  of  a  hundred  instances  in  which  the  Hearst 
newspapers  have  stepped  with  spiked  boots  on 
the  toes  of  thieving  corporations.  Hence  you 
•can  begin  to  appreciate  the  extent  of  the 
animosity  against  them  among  the  predatory 
classes." 

.  It  maintained,  not  without  reason,  that  many 
""  respectable  "  persons,  who  foamed  at  the  mouth 
at  the  mention  of  "  yellow  journalism "  did  so 
because  they  feared  its  fearlessness.  The  virulent 
fanatic  hatred  with  which  yellow  journalism  is 
regarded  led  Mr.  Hearst  to  say :  "  What  is  the 
trouble  then  ?  It  has  nothing  to  do  with  morals, 
for  t.\\Q  Journal,  the  American,  and  the  Examiner 
are  more  scrupulous  in  regard  to  the  character 
of  the  matter  they  print  than  any  other  papers 
of  general  circulation  in  their  respective  cities. 
It    has   nothing   to  do  with  politics,  for  these 

*  People  seem  to  imagine  that  "yellow  "  is  an  oppro- 
brious epithet. '  Yellow  was  the  colour  which  the  Jews 
had  to  wear  in  the  Ghetto.      The   yellow  rose   is   the 

•  badge  •  of  Zionism  to-day,  but  the  yellow  of  American 
journalism  has  nothing  to  do  with  that.  It  originated  in 
the  fact  that  first  one  of  these  journals  and  then  another 
employed' in  its  colour-printed  weekly  supplements  the 
picture  of  a  child  dressed  in  a  yellow  Irock,  who  is 
known  as  the  "yellow  kid."      Tlie  adventures  of  this 

.  small  urchin  were  described  week  after  week,  and  the 
continual  reappearance  of  the  yellow-frocked  youngster 
gave  the  name  of  yellow  to  the  journals  in  whose  pages 
It  figured.  There  was  nothing  opprobrious  in  the 
epithet,  and  it  has  been  so  absurdly  misapplied  that 
yellow,  in  the  mouth  of  some  people,  is  almost  x  synonym 
ior  go-ahead  and  enterprising. 


journals  have  set  an  example  of  fair  and  courteous 
treatment  of  political  opponents,  that  has  been 
gratefully  recognised  by  the  partisan  leaders 
they  have  fought."  The  real  secret  of  the 
hatred  is  because  they  come  down  with  spiked 
boots  upon  so  many  dishonest  people's  toes. 
Another  delusion  is  that  the  Hearst  papers  have 
no  policy.  On  the  contrary,  they  have  main- 
tained a  very  definite  policy  both  in  home  and 
foreign  affairs.  Most  of  their  demands  in  foreign 
affairs  are  now  accepted  by  the  nation,  and  are 
recognised  as  part  and  parcel  of  the  policy  of 
the  United  States.  In  home  affairs  they  pro- 
pounded at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1901  the 
following  seven-headed  programme,  which  is 
worth  while  bearing  in  mind  : — 

(i)  Election  of  senators  by  the  people ;  (2) 
destruction  of  criminal  trusts;  (3)  No  protec- 
tion for  oppressive  trusts ;  (4)  The  public 
ownership  of  public  franchises ;  (5)  a  graduated 
income  tax  ;  (6)  currency  reform  ;  (7)  national, 
state,  and  municipal  improvement  of  the  public 
school  system. 

Here  are  politics,  says  the  Jotirnal,  which 
look  towards  progress,  and  represent  the  truest 
Americanism. 

There  is  some  talk  of  Mr.  Hearst  starting  a 
daily  paper  in  London.  There  is  plenty  of  room 
here  for  spiked  boots  that  come  down  roughly 
upon  the  toes  of  evil-doers,  and  to-day  we  should 
welcome  a  vigorous,  energetic  newspaper  of  the 
Hearst  kind,  even  if  it  did  overdo  the  scare- 
head  and  the  big  type. 

The  periodical  magazine  is  another  form  of 
literary  activity  in  which  the  Americans  have 
outstripped  the  British,  especially  in  the  matter 
of  illustrations.  The  Century,  Scribner,  and 
Harper  are  three  periodicals  for  the  like  of 
which  we  may  search  in  vain  through  the 
periodical  literature  of  the  world.  The  Cosmo- 
politan, McClur^s,  and  Everybody's  Magazine 
are  also  as  good  as,  and  often  better  than  the 
best  of  our  popular  sixpennies.  The  American 
Review  of  Reviews  is  much  superior  both  in 
price  and  general  get-up  and  advertisements  to 
the  English  Reviexv  of  Rroiews,  from  which  it 
sprang.  We  have  no  magazine  comparable  to 
the  Worlds  Work.  Neither  have  we  anything 
comparable  to  the  Youths  Companion,  the 
Ladies'  Home  Journal,  or  Success. 

Of  the  non-illustrated  magazines,  the  North 
American  may  challenge  comparison  with  the 
Nineteenth  Century,  but  on  the  high-priced 
magazines  the  old  country  still  has  the  pull,  and 
the  same  may  be  said  of  Russia  and  France. 
The  American  magazine  has  an  advantage  over 
its  English  competitors  in  the  postal  rates,  which 
enable  second-class  mail  matter  to  be  sent 
through  the  post  at  an  almost  nominal  charge, 


114 


The  Aviericanisation  of  the  IVorla. 


whereas   in    England   the   postage   often   adds 
50  per  cent,  to  the  cost  of  the  magazine.* 

Discussing  the  Americanisation  of  the  world, 
it  is  necessary  to  say  at  least  a  passing  word 
upon  the  Americanisation  of  the  English  lan- 
guage. It  is  the  fashion  in  some  quarters  to 
believe  that  the  Americans  are  corrupting  the 
language.  The  Americans,  on  the  other  hand, 
maintain  with  considerable  show  of  reason,  that 
many  words  and  phrases  which  we  regard  as 
distinctively  American  are  really  from  the  well 
of  English  undefiled  as  it  was  to  be  found  in 
the  spacious  times  of  Great  Elizabeth.  They 
also  maintain  that  London  is  the  great  corrupter 
of  English  pronunciation,  and  it  is  tolerably 
certain  that  if  there  were  to  be  an  Academy  of 
the  Language  formed,  many  of  the  greatest 
purists  would  come  from  the  other  side  of  the 
Atlantic.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Americans 
have  taken  the  lead  in  eliminating  what  they 
regard  as  superfluous  letters  from  English  words, 
a  process  which  in  time  may  make  great  change 
in  the  outward  appearance,  although  not  in  the 
pronunciation  of  our  mother-tongue.  Long  ago 
the  Americans  dropped  the  superfluous  "u"  in 
such  words  as  "  honour,"  and  substituted  "  z  " 
for  "  s  "  in  words  like  "  organise." 

The  National  Educational  Association  form- 
ally adopted  for  use  in  all  its  official  publica- 
tions a  simplified  spelling  for  these  twelve  words 
— program,  tho,  altho,  thoro,  thorofare,  thru, 
thruout,  catalog,  prolog,  decalog,  demagog,  pcdagog. 

The  United  States  Government  some  time 
ago  appointed  a  Board  to  decide  on  a  uniform 
spelling  for  geographical  names.  They  reported 
in  favour  of  the  elimination  of  the  unnecessary 
letters,  so  that  Behring  Straits  in  the  American 
official  publications  is  spelt  without  the  "h." 
A  committee  of  the  American  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Science  has  also  drawn  up 
rules  for  the  uniform  spelling  of  chemical  terms. 
Its  most  important  recommendations,  which 
have  been  adopted  in  the  school-books,  elimi- 
nate the  final  "  e  "  from  such  words  as  '•  oxide," 
"  iodide,"  "  chloride,"  "  quinine,"  "  morphine," 
"  aniline,"  &c. 

ITiis  tendency  to  eliminate  superfluous  letters, 
although  much  to  be  lamented  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  philologist  who  wishes  to  trace 
the  origin  of  words,  nevertheless  represents  a 
simplicity  in  spelling  and  economy  in   space. 

*  The  privil^e  of  sending  periodicals  through  the 
post  as  second  class  mail  matter  at  a  nominal  postage 
ra^e  has  been  much  abused.  Several  so-called  magazines 
are  serial  directories,  others  are  mere  advertising 
pamphlets ;  and  at  one  time  almost  any  book  could  be 
sent  through  the  post  at  magazine  rates,  if  only  it  were 
brought  out  in  a  series.  These  abuses  are,  however, 
being  vigorously  dealt  with,  to  the  great  benefit  ot  the 
legitimate  magazines. 


It  is  not  difficult  to  foresee  the  coming  of  a  still 
greater  change.  Some  day  the  American,  with 
his  characteristic  directness  and  genius  for  going 
straight  to  the  point,  recognising  that  the 
one  great  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  universal 
adoption  of  the  English  language  as  a  means  of 
communication  between  man  and  man  is  its 
spelling,  will  take  courage  and  reduce  the  lan- 
guage of  Shakespeare  and  Milton  to  a  phonetic 
system.  The  literary  sense  shudders  at  the 
thought  of  the  disappearance  of  the  familiar 
words,  which  have  become  indissolubly  asso- 
ciated with  the  ideas  which  they  express,  but 
from  a  practical  point  of  view,  the  con- 
venience of  the  change  would  be  incalculable. 
Those  who  live  in  the  period  of  transition 
will  have  a  bad  time,  but  all  future  generations 
will  gain  when  the  spelling  of  the  words  is 
made  to  correspond  to  the  way  in  which  they 
are  pronounced.  Thus  possibly  the  Americans 
may  adopt  the  change  many  years  before  it  is 
accepted  in  more  conservative  Britain.  In 
that  case  there  will  be  a  great  danger  of  our 
losing  the  one  adjective  which  describes  our 
common  race,  for  their  language  will  be  known 
as  the  American  as  distinct  from  the  English. 
We  shall  have  two  tongues  pronounced  in  the 
same  way,  but  spelt  differently.  It  is  easy  to 
see  how,  if  the  unification  of  the  English- 
speaking  race  is  not  speedily  effected,  such  an 
alteration  would  make  a  very  subtle  appeal  to 
the  instinct  of  American  patriotism.  At  the 
present  an  American  must  speak  English,  for  he 
cannot  differentiate  the  language  which  he 
speaks  from  that  of  the  mother-country ;  but,  if 
the  spelling  were  altered,  the  Americans  would 
have  a  language  of  their  own.  Let  us  hope 
that  from  so  great  a  disaster  the  Race  may  be 
saved  by  the  Union  which  will  secure  that  the 
alteration  in  spelling  shall  be  effected  simul- 
taneously throughout  the  whole  area  of  the 
English-speaking  world. 


Chapter  III. — Art,  Science  and  Music. 

Fifty  years  ago,  even  thirty  years  ago,  an 
allusion  to  American  art  would  have  provoked 
an  incredulous  smile  on  the  part  of  our  Royal 
Academicians.  The  Americans  were  supposed 
to  have  a  supreme  capacity  for  producing  pork 
and  corn,  but  as  for  the  fine  arts  we  have  only  to 
turn  to  English  newspapers  at  the  time  when 
Mrs.  TroUope  and  Dickens  were  regarded  as  the 
chief  authorities  upon  things  American,  to  realise 
how  absurd  must  have  seemed  a  suggestion  that 
even  in  this  field  Britons  would  not  be  able  to 


Art,  Science  and  Music. 


115 


hold  their  own.  That  this  is  the  fact  in  at  least 
some  branches  of  art  has  been  formally  attested 
this  year  in  the  most  official  fashion.  The 
Coronation  of  Edward  VII.  is  the  great  cere- 
monial event  to  which  we  are  all  looking  forward 
in  1902.  It  is  more  than  sixty  years  since  the 
old  Abbey  witnessed  the  coronation  of  a  British 
Sovereign.  All  the  resources  of  the  Empire 
will  be  employed  to  make  the  coronation  of  the 
King  as  perfect  a  picture  and  symbol  of  the 
Empire  as  the  wit  or  imagination  of  man  can 
devise.  But  when  the  question  arose  as  to  the 
artist  to  whom  should  be  deputed  the  duty  of 
making  permanent  the  picture  of  the  great  scene 
upon  which  the  eyes  of  the  world  will  be  centred 
next  June,  the  King  passed  over  all  British 
artists,  and  selected  for  the  supreme  task  a 
citizen  of  the  Republic.  It  is  by  the  aid  of 
the  brush  of  Mr.  Edwin  Abbey,  an  American 
artist,  that  posterity  will  picture  the  crowning  of 
Edward  VII. 

This  Royal  homage  to  Republican  genius  by 
no  means  stands  alone,  nor  is  Mr.  Abbey  the 
only  American  who  in  the  opinion  of  the  British 
themselves  has  been  worthy  of  the  highest  place 
among  British  artists.  In  last  year's  Academy 
Mr.  Sargent  was  facile  princeps.  It  was  Sar- 
gent's year,  said  the  art  critics,  with  astonishing 
unanimity,  and  some  did  not  even  hesitate  to  ac- 
company their  tribute  to  Mr.  Sargfent  with  more 
or  less  contumelious  reflections  upon  the  British- 
bom  artists,  whose  canvases  they  declared  only 
served  as  foils  to  the  supreme  excellence  of  the 
American. 

Mr.  Whistler  is  another  notable  American 
whose  original  genius  has  triumphed  over  all 
the  prejudice  excited  by  a  somewhat  eccentric 
form  of  expression.  Of  course  it  may  be  said, 
?ind  justly  said,  that  the  British  pictures  exhibited 
at  the  Paris  Exhibition  were  superior,  taken  as 
a  whole,  to  those  exhibited  by  American  artists, 
but  it  is  the  excellence  of  the  supreme  artist 
rather  than  the  general  average  of  the  rank  and 
file  which  counts  in  the  history  of  art. 

The  Royal  Munich  Academy  this  year  has 
selected  for  special  honour  three  English-speaking 
artists,  two  of  whom,  Mr.  Sargent  and  Mr.  Abbey, 
are  American,  and  one,  Mr.  Walter  Crane, 
is  an  Englishman.  But  both  of  the  American 
artists  are  acclimatised  in  the  Old  World.  Mr. 
Sargent  was  bom  in  Italy  of  American  parents, 
and  he  may  be  said  to  be  Europeanised  from 
his  birth.  Mr.  Abbey,  born  in  Philadelphia, 
was  educated  in  America,  but  he  quitted  the 
New  World  two  and  twenty  years  ago.  Mr. 
Whistler  is  a  voluntary  exile  from  his  native 
land.  It  is  inevitable  that  the  Old  World 
should  attract  the  artists  for  a  time,  but  that 
time  is  passing.  American  sculptors  find  a 
most  congenial  home  in  Rome,  and  American 


artists  prefer  Paris  and  London  to  New  York 
or  Chicago. 

But  while  they  go  abroad  to  be  Europeanised 
and  to  profit  by  the  picture  galleries  of  Europe, 
they  cannot  -be  Europeanised  without  each  of 
them  exercising  a  more  or  less  Americanising 
influence  upon  the  society  in  the  midst  of  which 
they  live.  For  the  American,  like  a  lump  of 
sugar  or  a  drop  of  vinegar — whichever  you  prefer 
— in  a  glass  of  water,  always  makes  his  person- 
ality felt.  American  students  troop  to  Paris  in 
such  numbers  that  they  have  an  association  of 
their  own,  which  every  year  holds  an  exhibition. 
The  Association  is  not  composed  exclusively  of 
Americans,  but  the  citizens  of  the  United  States 
predominate.  It  is  said  that  there  are  no  fewer 
than  two  hundred  American  architects  at  the 
Beaux-Arts,  while  American  artists  are  much 
more  numerous. 

In  England  we  have  recently  witnessed  the 
formation  of  an  International  Society  for  sculp- 
tors, painters,  and  gravers,  which  holds  its  own 
exhibitions,  at  which  its  members  show  their 
best  work  in  such  a  fashion  that  it  may  be  seen 
to  the  best  advantage.  Its  President,  Mr. 
Whistler,  is  an  American.  Mr.  Pennell,  who  is 
one  of  the  best  black  and  white  artists  in  London, 
is  also  an  American.  Mr.  St.  Gaudens,  Mr. 
MacMonnies,  Mr.  Chase,  Mr.  Alexander,  and 
Mr.  Melchers,  are  among  the  honorary  mem- 
bers ;  Mr.  Humphreys  Johnston,  Mr.  Muhrman, 
Mr.  Mura,  among  the  associates ;  while  this 
year  Mr.  Lungren  and  Mr.  McLure  Hamilton 
were  exhibitors.  So  that  the  International 
Society  will  be  largely  American.  That  is, 
indeed,  but  symbolical  of  the  change  which 
is  going  on  on  a  larger  scale  in  every  depart- 
ment of  life.  The  Americans  are  a  great 
internationalising  element.  Being  themselves 
an  amalgam  of  many  nations,  they  constitute  a 
kind  of  human  flux,  which  enables  the  diverse 
elements  of  hostile  nationalities  to  form  a  har- 
monious whole.  In  our  Royal  Academy  we 
have  at  present  only  two  Americans,  but  they 
worthily  uphold  the  honour  of  the  United 
States. 

There  is  very  excellent  reason  why  American 
artists  should  prefer  to  paint  in  the  Old  World. 
Mr.  J.  W.  Alexander,  the  painter,  in  a  recent 
lecture  before  the  National  Art  Club  of  New 
York,  explained  one  reason  why  the  artist  prefers 
to  paint  outside  his  native  land.  A  prophet 
has  no  honour  in  his  own  country,  and  Mr. 
Alexander  declares  that  the  price  of  a  picture 
painted  in  the  United  States  is  scarcely  more 
than  one- fifth  of  what  it  would  bring  if  it  had 
been  painted  abroad  by  the  same  artist  in  the 
same  style  and  with  the  same  merits.  Pictures, 
in  the  opinion  of  American  collectors,  still,  it 
would   seem,  require  the  hall-mark  of  Europe. 

1  2 


ii6 


The  Americanisation  of  the   World. 


A  heavy  duty  inii)Osed  upon  works  of  art,  a  kind 
of  protection  for  American  artists,  fails  in  its 
purpose,  and  leads  American  collectors  to  keep 
their  collections  in  London  rather  than  in  New 
York. 

The  American  with  his  brush  as  yet  has 
])robably  had  less  influence  upon  European  art 
than  the  American  with  his  dollars,  for  Maecenas, 
who  in  the  old  days  was  patron  of  all  art  and 
letters  in  Imperial  Rome,  has  been  reincarnated 
nowadays  with  an  American  accent.  In  all  the 
great  cities  in  America  picture  galleries  are 
growing  up,  to  which  from  time  to  time  the 
masterpieces  of  Europe  are  transported  with 
reverent  hands,  and  displayed  as  a  perennial 
source  of  culture  before  the  eyes  of  the  young 
Democracy.  A  French  artist,  M.  Edmond 
Aman  Jean,  who  recently  visited  America,  has 
lately  published  a  rather  remarkable  appreciation 
of  American  art.  He  said  that  although  he  had 
often  served  on  the  Salon  juries  in  Paris,  he  had 
never  seen  so  much  justice  and  such  a  strict 
honesty  as  was  manifested  in  the  examination 
of  the  works  which  made  up  the  Carnegie 
Exhibition  in  1901.  And  then,  going  on 
to  speak  of  American  art  as  a  whole,  he  de- 
clared : — 

"  My  conviction  is  that,  like  Venice,  the 
United  States  will  have  one  day  the  most  mag- 
nificent school  of  painting  in  the  world.  Venice 
commenced  like  America,  by  industry  and  com- 
merce. She  had  her  sellers  before  she  had  her 
painters.  She  Avas  obliged  to  acquire  opulence 
and  domination  before  she  could  found  a  school 
of  art.  Generations  must  pass  away  yet  before 
in  the  field  of  art  old  Europe  will  be  definitely 
vanquished,  but  the  generations  will  be  born, 
will  live  and  die,  and  the  new  art  will  come 
permanently  into  existence." 

American  architecture  is  ill  understood  by 
those  who  imagine  that  its  culminating  triumph 
has  been  the  construction  of  thirty-story  sky- 
scrapers. No  one  is  likely  to  fall  into  such  an 
error  who  visited  the  World's  Fair  in  Chicago. 
The  Court  of  Honour,  with  its  palaces  sur- 
rounding the  great  fountain,  the  slender  columns 
of  the  peristyle,  the  golden  dome  of  the  adminis- 
tration building,  formed  a  picture  the  like  of 
which  the  world  has  not  seen  before.  The  long 
stately  lines  of  the  great  palaces,  the  glory  of 
the  colonnades,  and  the  beauty  of  the  lagoons, 
in  which  the  great  buildings  were  mirrored  when 
the  waters  were  not  disturbed  by  the  gondolas, 
left  an  impression  of  perfect  beauty  and  stately 
symmetry  never  equalled  in  any  of  the  most 
famous  architectural  marbles  of  the  Old  World. 
Yet  the  buildings  had  none  of  the  associations 
of  history  and  of  tradition  which  contribute  so 
largely  to  impress  the  pilgrims  to  the  great 
catJiedrals  of  the  Middle  Ages  or  the  temples  of 


Greece  and  Rome.  The  buildings  were  new 
from  the  architect's  hands.  It  was  a  great 
tribute  to  the  genius  of  their  builders  that  the 
buildings  which  they  reared  could  produce  so 
constant  and  abiding  an  effect.  The  race  which 
could  produce  the  Court  of  Honour  in  the 
World's  Fair  will  cover  the  Continent  with  im- 
perishable monuments  of  its  genius. 

In  sculpture  the  Americans  are  as  productive 
as  original  and  as  instinct  with  forceful  virility. 
Mr.  St.  Gaudens  is  probably  the  greatest  hving 
sculptor,  if  we  except  M.  Roden. 

Passing  from  art  to  science,  the  first  two 
American  naturalists  whose  names  became 
known  to  the  Old  World  were  Audubon  in 
ornithology,  and  Professor  Agassiz.  It  is  a 
long  time  since  they  passed  away,  so  long  that 
they  appear  almost  to  belong  to  a  vanished 
world.  In  the  Twentieth  Century  there  seems 
to  be  ample  ground  for  believing  that  the 
Americans  will  distance  us  in  science  more 
decisively  than  in  almost  any  other  department 
of  human  activity.  The  reason  for  this  lies, 
not  only  in  the  genius  of  the  people,  but 
because  the  provision  made  for  scientific  research 
by  the  munificence  of  American  millionaires  is 
infinitely  in  excess  of  anything  that  is  provided 
in  the  British  Empire.  Sir  Norman  Lockyer 
recently  made  a  bitter  lament  as  to  the  scanda- 
lous neglect  of  science  by  the  British  Govern- 
ment. Recommendations  made  years  ago  for 
the  appointment  of  a  Scientific  Council  have 
never  been  carried  into  effect,  and  there  is 
hardly  any  department  of  scientific  research 
that  is  provided  even  with  sufficient  funds  to 
find  itself  with  its  necessar)^  instruments.  Not 
only  do  the  Americans  equip  all  their  great 
universities  with  magnificent  apparatus  and 
adequate  endowments,  but  they  send  their 
ablest  students  abroad  to  study  with  the  best 
experts  in  every  branch  of  science.  They  tap 
the  brains  of  the  world,  and  keep  themselves 
fully  abreast  of  the  latest  results  of  modern 
research. 

Not  only  is  this  true  of  what  may  be  called 
the  Brahmins  of  science,  but  American  news- 
papers take  much  more  pains  to  popularise 
scientific  discoveries  than  is  thought  worth  while 
by  their  English  admirers.  The  yellowest  of 
yellow  journals  will  describe,  in  page  after  page, 
the  latest  discovery  in  astronomy  or  the  most 
recent  speculations  as  to  the  art  and  culture  of 
Palaeolithic  man. 

Another  notable  advantage  which  the  Ameri- 
cans have  in  the  scientific  field  is  that  they  draw 
both  sexes,  whereas  in  England,  with  ver\'  few 
exceptions,  science  is  a  monopoly  of  the  male. 
One  of  the  most  remarkable  instances  of  the 
advantage  of  being  able  to  lay  the  talents  of 
both  sexes  under  contribution  in  the  work  of 


Aj'i,  Science  and  Music. 


117 


science  is  afforded  by  the  story  of  the  Klumpke 
sisters.  There  are  four  of  them.  Miss  Dorothea 
Klumpke,  the  briUiant  San  Francisco  girl,  won 
for  herself  a  distinguished  and  unique  position 
in  the  Paris  Observatorj^,  where  she  has  been 
employed  for  years  at  the  head  of  a  large  staff 
of  girls  in  making  a  chart  of  the  heavens. 
She  was  one  of  the  astronomers  selected  by 
the  French  Government  to  observe  the  recent 
eclipse  of  the  sun.  Not  only  is  she  an  astrono- 
mer, but  also  she  is  an  intrepid  aeronaut,  and, 
if  current  gossip  be  well  founded,  she  was  in  a 
balloon  at  the  fateful  moment  when  she  found 
her  destiny  in  the  stars  in  another  than  an 
astrological  sense.  The  Klumpke  girls  form  a 
remarkable  group,  perhaps  the  most  remarkable 
group  of  sisters  at  present  on  this  planet. 
Dorothea,  the  astronomer,  is  the  eldest.  After 
her  comes  her  sister  Anna,  who  is  an  artist,  and 
famous  as  the  intimate  friend  and  legatee  of 
Rosa  Bonheur ;  Augusta,  a  doctor,  was  the  first 
woman  to  obtain  an  appointment  as  house- 
surgeon  in  a  Paris  hospital,  and  she  subse- 
quently married  a  French  doctor.  Julia 
Klumpke  has  already  achieved  fame  as  a 
violonist  and  a  singer.  A  few  more  families 
like  the  Klumpke  girls  would  Americanise 
Europe  with  a  vengeance.  Unfortunately  such 
groups  are  rare,  even  in  the  United  States. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  attempt  even  the 
most  cursory  survey  of  the  contributions  that 
Americans  have  made  to  human  science,  which, 
being  of  no  country  and  cosmopolitan  in  its 
nature,  bears  perhaps  less  trace  of  Americanisa- 
tion  than  many  other  departments  of  human 
activity.  It  would  be  presumption  on  my  part 
to  attempt  even  to  summarise  in  outline  the 
contributions  which  Americans  have  made  to 
modem  science.  All  that  I  wish  to  do  here 
is  to  remind  the  public,  and  especially  my  own 
countrymen,  of  the  achievements  of  the  Ameri- 
cans in  this  as  in  other  departments  of  life,  in 
order  to  combat  the  prevalent  delusion  which 
still  lingers  in  many  old-world  quarters,  that  the 
Americans  are  nothing  more  than  growers  of 
corn  and  rearers  of  pork. 

Astronomy  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  sub- 
lime of  all  sciences,  and  it  is  precisely  in  this 
science  that  the  Americans  are  leading  the 
Avorld.  Sir  Robert  Ball,  Astronomer-Royal, 
recently  declared  to  Mr,  G.  P.  Service,  an 
American  astronomer,  that — 

"  America  now  leads  the  van  of  astronomical  science." 
"The  greatest  advance,"  he  said,  "that  astronomy  has 
recently  made  is  what  the  Americans  have  been  doing. 
It  is  the  work  accomplished  by  Professor  Keeler  at  the 
great  Lick  Observatory  in  California.  I  do  not  know  of 
anything  in  astronomy  so  important  as  what  he  did  a 
little  before  his  death,  when  he  discovered  the  nebular 
wonders  of  the  heavens.  I  do  not  know  of  anything- 
that   can  be   compared    to  this   discovery  in  the  recent 


advance  of  astronomy  for  its  immense  importance  and 
significance,  for  the  light  which  it  throws  upon  the 
origin  of  the  solar  system,  and  the  suggestion  which  it 
makes  as  to  the  beginnings  of  the  manner  of  formation  of 
such  systems." 

So  said  Sir  Robert  Ball  at  the  end  of  last 
October,  and  three  weeks  had  hardly  passed 
before  the  astronomers  in  the  Lick  Observatory 
reported  a  new  conquest  in  the  unexpected  and 
startling  discovery  which  they  made  in  photo- 
graphing a  star  in  Nova  Persii. 

About  the  same  time  occurred  the  publication 
of  a  report  of  Professor  Pickering,  of  Harvard, 
describing  the  results  of  his  spectroscopic 
analysis  of  lightning,  which,  in  his  judgment, 
suggests  that  hydrogen  is  not  an  element,  but 
only  a  compound.  Professor  Pickering  further 
reported  that  "  there  is  a  close  resemblance 
between  the  spectrum  of  lightning  and  that  of 
the  new  star  in  Perseus."  Science  may  be  thus 
started  upon  new  fields. 

One  of  the  early  characteristics  of  the 
American,  noted  by  all  Englishmen  who  visited 
the  country  in  the  first  half  of  last  century,  was 
the  intense  spirit  of  curiosity,  of  Yankee  in- 
quisitiveness,  as  it  was  called.  In  those  early 
days  the  habit  of  cross-examining  a  stranger 
down  to  the  ground  upon  all  the  details  of  his 
life  and  business  may  have  been  carried  to 
lengths  which  were  hardly  consistent  with  the 
hospitality  due  to  the  stranger  within  their 
gates.  But  the  essence  of  inquisitiveness  is  the 
spirit  of  inquiry  which  forms  the  basis  of  all 
scientific  progress.  The  Yankee  who  in  the 
railway  car  asked  you  who  you  were,  what  your 
income  was,  what  you  had  done,  and  what  you 
hoped  to  do,  was  treating  you  as  every  man  of 
science  treats  every  unknown  phenomenon 
which  presents  itself  to  him.  The  scientist  is 
a  perpetual  note  of  interrogation,  and  this 
intense  eagerness  to  know,  to  find  out  things, 
and  a  certain  child-like  faculty  of  constantly 
renewed  wonderment,  affords  broad  and  deep 
foundation  for  the  future  pre-eminence  of 
America  in  scientific  pursuits. 

With  sandwichmen  parading  the  streets  of 
London,  announcing  two  performances  daily  of 
De  Souza's  band,  we  have  one  side  of  American 
music  brought  very  prominently  before  the 
attention  of  the  London  public. 

The  "  Washington  Post  March  "  has  drummed 
itself  into  the  ears  of  the  whole  world.  The 
great  American  composers,  however,  have  yet 
to  be  born,  but  American  prima  donnas  are 
arising  to  charm  the  Old  World  with  the  native 
wood-notes  wild  of  the  New  World.  For  many 
years  American  audiences  have  been  thrilled  by 
the  notes  of  European  artists.  They  are  begin- 
ning to  repay  their  debt.  It  is  rather  odd  to 
read  that  a  young  Illinois  woman,  Miss  Minnie 


ii8 


The  Americanisation  of  the  World. 


Methot,  after  beginning  her  career  as  soprano 
in  the  first  Congregational  Church  in  Evanston, 
IlUnois,  has  been  chosen  to  sing  one  of  the 
leading  parts  in  Paderewski's  new  opera  of 
"  Manru  "  in  Berlin. 

Not  less  interesting,  but  even  more  significant, 
is  the  fact  that  German  jealousy  of  American 
competition  has  shown  itself  on  the  operatic 
stage,  and  that  more  than  once  American 
singers  have  been  compelled  to  abandon  roles 
which  they  were  recognised  as  the  fittest  to  fill, 
because  of  the  jealousy  of  their  fellow-artists  of 
the  old  world,  who  resent  American  rivalry  on 
the  stage  as  much  as  German  Protectionists 
resent  the  import  of  American  goods  into  the 
market. 

Emma  Nevada  is  another  of  the  American 
cantatrices  whose  talents  have  commanded 
European  recognition,  and  it  will  be  remembered 
was  one  of  the  last  singers  commanded  to  sing 
in  private  before  Queen  Victoria.  The  use  of 
singing  as  a  means  of  Evangelisation,  if  not 
originally  an  American  notion,  received  its 
chief  recognition  from  Americans.  Mr.  Phillip 
Phillips,  the  Singing  Pilgrim,  began  it,  but  it 
was  Mr.  Sankey  who  made  sacred  song  more 
important  as  an  instrument  of  revival  than  the 
sermon.  The  latest  movement  among  the 
churches  in  Chicago  has  been  the  formation  of 
a  plan  at  Chicago  Theological  Seminary  for 
starting  a  school  of  church  music  where 
preachers  and  choirs  could  study  under  professors 
selected  for  their  special  knowledge  of  the  best 
use  of  music  in  religious  worship. 

Few  things  struck  me  more  when  I  was  in 
Chicago  than  the  attention  which  was  paid  to 
music,  and  the  popularity  of  high-class  music. 
Some  people  say  that  the  Americans  owe  this 
to  the  large  infusion  of  the  Germans.  If  this 
be  so,  Americans  have  taken  to  it  very  kindly. 
A  remarkable  tribute  to  American  music  was 
recently  paid  by  Dr.  Wilhelm  Klatte,  who,  last 
November,  in  the  course  of  his  series  of  lectures 
on  the  history  of  music,  declared  his  conviction 
that  the  United  States  would  be  teaching  Europe 
music  within  twenty  years. 

"  America,"  he  said,  "  is  undoubtedly  on  the 
threshold  of  a  great  musical  career.  Native 
composition  is  only  emerging  from  its  infancy, 
and  most  American  musical  exponents  are 
fresh  from  European  schooling.  But  music, 
like  everything  else,  will  become  typically 
American," 

What  evidently  impressed  Dr.  Klatte  deeply 
was  the  presence  in  Beriin  of  such  large  numbers 
of  earnest  and  devoted  students  of  music  from 
across  the  Atlantic. 

"The  records  of  our  Conservatories  show 
that  out  of  an  average  class  of  five  hundred, 
one-fifth   is   composed   of  Yankees,  while   the 


remainder  are  Germans.  Never  fewer  than 
forty-five  Americans  obtain  first  honours,  while 
if  two  hundred  Germans  manage  to  secure  a 
like  position,  the  percentage  is  high." 

Some  American  critics  have  looked  askance 
at  Dr.  Klatte's  compliments,  with  a  suspicion 
that  he  is  poking  fun  at  them  with  his  compli- 
mentary prophecies.  But  Dr.  Klatte  is  a  dis- 
tinguished musical  critic  on  the  most  widely 
circulated  Berlin  newspaper,  and  there  is  no 
reason  to  believe  that  he  was  not  expressing  a 
genuine  conviction  as  to  the  future  triumphs  of 
America  in  the  musical  world. 


Chapter  IV. — The  Theatre. 

"  The  Theatre "  is  a  subject  upon  which  I  am 
unable  to  speak  with  any  personal  knowledge, 
and  for  this  reason  I  have  asked  Mr.  William 
Archer,  the  foremost  literar}^  critic  of  the  drama, 
to  supply  this  chapter  on  the  American  invasion 
of  the  English  theatre.     Mr.  Archer  writes  : — 

"  The  American  invasion  of  the  English  theatre 
began  about  fifteen  years  ago,  with  the  first  visit 
of  Mr.  Augustin  Daly's  company  to  London. 
Long  before  that,  indeed,  we  had  seen  many 
American  actors  in  England ;  but  they  came 
as  '  single  spies,'  not  '  in  battalions.'  The  first 
great  American  tragedian,  Edwin  Forrest,  met 
with  such  scant  appreciation  on  this  side  that 
the  resentment  of  his  admirers  led  to  the  san- 
guinary Astor  Place  riot  in  New  York,  during 
William  Charles  Macready's  farewell  visit  to 
America.  Thomas  Abthorpe  Cooper,  too,  was 
scarcely  successful  in  London ;  and  several 
other  American  actors,  such  as  Davidge, 
Hackett,  and  E.  L.  Davenport,  made  no  great 
mark  on  the  English  stage.  (Here  let  me  say 
that  I  am  writing  at  a  distance  from  all  books 
of  reference,  and  must  crave  indulgence  for 
possible  small  inaccuracies.)  Even  Edwin  Booth 
on  his  first  visit  to  England  passed  almost 
unperceived.  It  was  not  till  he  acted  at  the 
Princess's  Theatre  and  (by  Sir  Henry  Irving's 
invitation)  at  the  Lyceum  in  1880  that  his 
genius  met  with  adequate  recognition ;  and 
even  then  he  was  scarcely  a  popular  success. 
Charlotte  Cushman  and  Joseph  Jefferson,  on 
the  other  hand,  were  highly  appreciated,  and 
(if  I  mistake  not)  were  almost  the  first  Ameri- 
can actors  to  make  considerable  profits  in 
England.  The  '  Bateman  Children,'  an  Ameri- 
can family,  appeared  in  London  as  early  as  the 
eighteen-fifties,  and  grew  up  to  take  a  prominent 
position  on  the  English  stage.  It  was  under 
the  management  of  their  father,  H.  L.  Bateman, 
at  the  Lyceum,  that   Henry  Irving  rose   into 


TJie  Theatre: 


119 


fame.  One  or  two  American  '  variety  actors,' 
such  as  J.  K.  Emmett  and  Miss  Minnie  Palmer, 
were  very  popular  in  the  seventies  and  eighties ; 
while  in  the  same  decades  comedians  such  as 
John  T.  Raymond,  W.  J,  Florence,  and  Henry 
Dixey,  tragedians  such  as  John  McCulIough  and 
Lawrence  Barrett,  made  only  a  faint  impression. 
On  the  whole,  it  may  be  said  that  down  to  1895 
Miss  Mary  Anderson  was  the  only  American 
'  star '  of  the  first  magnitude  who  had  taken  a 
ver)'  prominent  place  in  the  English  theatrical 
firmament. 

"  Meanwhile  many  English  actors  had  brought 
back  cargoes  of  dollars  from  America — George 
Frederick  Cooke,  Edmund  and  Charles  Kean, 
Ellen  Tree,  Macready,  Tyrone  Power,  E.  A. 
Sothern,  and  others.  Sir  Henry  Irving's  American 
tours  (with  a  complete  English  company)  were 
from  the  first  immensely  successful ;  and  so 
were  the  visits  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal  at  a 
somewhat  later  date.  The  '  balance  of  trade,' 
down  to  the  last  decade  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  was  entirely  and  obviously  in  favour  of 
England. 

"  The  tide  began  to  turn,  as  above  suggested, 
with  the  first  visit  of  the  Daly  Company.  It  was 
not  the  first  American  company  to  be  imported 
entire.  I  remember  at  least  one  predecessor — 
the  '  Salusbury  Troubadours ' — who  appeared  at 
the  Gaiety  Theatre  about  1880.  But  the  Daly 
Company  was  the  first  to  establish  itself  per- 
manently in  the  good  graces  of  the  English 
public.  Its  visits  were  looked  forward  to  as 
almost  an  annual  institution,  and  Miss  Ada 
Rehan  and  Mr,  John  Drew,  Mrs.  Gilbert  and 
Mr.  James  Lewis  became  as  popular  in  London 
as  in  New  York.  After  a  few  seasons  Mr. 
Daly  built  the  handsome  theatre  in  Cranbourne 
Street,  which  still  bears  his  name,  and  '  The 
Star-Spangled  Banner'  was  played  along  with 
'God  Save  the  Queen'  on  the  opening  night. 
Mr.  Daly's  good  fortune,  however,  did  not  long 
abide  with  him  in  his  own  theatre,  and  the 
leadership  of  the  American  invasion  soon  passed 
into  other  hands. 

"  Mr.  Daly  had  shown  us  no  genuinely  Ameri- 
can plays.  The  staple  of  his  productions  con- 
sisted of  farces  adapted  from  the  German— more 
rarely  from  the  French — with  three  or  four 
Shakespearean  revivals.  The  first  entirely 
American  play  of  any  note  presented  in  London 
by  an  entirely  American  company  was  Mr. 
William  Gillette's  '  Secret  Service.'  It  was  a 
great  success,  and  encouraged  the  manager, 
Mr.  Charles  Frohman,  to  make  further  efforts. 
He  became  more  or  less  intermittently  interested 
in  several  London  theatres,  and  one,  the  Duke 
of  York's  Theatre,  he  has  for  some  years  entirely 
controlled.  In  these  theatres  Mr.  Frohman 
has  exploited  a  good  many  of  his  New  York 


productions,  but  they  have  scarcely  ever  been 
American  plays.  Some  of  them  have  been  plays 
written  by  English  authors,  such  as  *  The  Chris- 
tian,' by  Mr.  Hall  Caine,  which,  after  making 
a  great  success  in  America,  failed  conspicuously 
at  the  Duke  of  York's  Theatre ;  others  have 
been  English  or  American  adaptations  from  the 
French,  such  as  the  very  low-class  farces,  '  A 
Night  Off,'  and  '  Never  Again.'  On  the  whole, 
Mr.  Frohman's  policy  has  not  differed  essenti- 
ally from  that  of  an  ordinary  English  manager. 
His  companies  have  sometimes  been  composite, 
including  a  considerable  proportion  of  American 
actors.  But  that  is  nowadays  very  generally  the 
case.  There  are  not  many  English  companies 
which  do  not  include  at  least  one  American 
actor  or  actress,  just  as  there  are  not  many 
American  companies  in  which  England  is  wholly 
unrepresented.  It  has  especially  become  the 
fashion  of  late  years  for  American  actresses  to 
seek  their  fortune  on  the  English  stage ;  and 
some  of  them,  such  as  Miss  Elizabeth  Robins 
and  Miss  Fay  Davis,  have  done  important  and 
excellent  work. 

"  The  third,  and  not  the  least  notable,  battalion 
of  American  invaders  came  on  the  scene  in  the 
year  1898.  The  form  of  entertainment  known 
as  '  musical  comedy '  or  '  musical  farce,'  was 
an  English  invention,  but  had  been  quickly 
naturalised  in  America.  A  piece  of  this  nature, 
'  The  Belle  of  New  York,'  after  having  had 
some  success  in  that  city,  was  transported  bodily, 
with  its  whole  company,  scenery  and  accessories, 
to  the  Shaftesbury  Theatre,  London,  where  it 
became  immensely  popular.  The  libretto  was 
rather  below  than  above  the  average  of  English 
musical  farce,  but  the  music  was  extremely  taking, 
and  the  acting  and  stage  management  had  that 
nervous  briskness  or  '  snap '  which  is  so  much 
cultivated  on  the  American  stage.  Such  a 
success  could  not  but  encourage  many  imitators, 
and  about  a  dozen  American  musical  farces 
have,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  been  imported  within 
the  last  three  years  by  Mr.  Lederer,  the  lucky 
owner  of  '  The  Belle  of  New  York,'  and  other 
impresarios.  Indeed,  two  new  theatres,  the 
Apollo  and  the  Century  Theatre  (the  rebuilt 
Adelphi),  have  been  opened  with  this  form  of 
entertainment.  In  no  case,  however,  has  the 
success  approached  that  of  the  first  experiment. 
The  pieces  have  been  for  the  most  part  even 
more  incoherent  than  English  work  of  the  same 
order,  and  greatly  inferior  from  a  musical  point 
of  view  to  '  The  Belle  of  New  York.'  On  the 
other  hand,  one  or  two  American  comic  operas 
(as  distinct  from  musical  farces),  imported  by 
Mr.  De  Woolf  Hopper  and  Miss  Alice  Nielsen, 
have  been  fairly  successful  in  London.      . 

"  Whatever  the  fate  of  the  individual  pieces  in 
which  they  have  been  engaged,  a  good  many 


t20 


The  Americanisation  of  the  World. 


American  singers  and  burlesque  comedians  of 
both  sexes  have  achieved  considerable  popu- 
larity on  the  English  stage.  Were  we  to  extend 
our  survey  to  the  music  halls,  the  case  would 
be  still  more  striking.  Here  American  per- 
formers of  every  description  are  constantly  in 
demand. 

"  We  see,  then,  that  during  the  past  fifteen 
years  American  theatrical  enterprise  has  been 
steadily  widening  the  area  of  its  activity  in 
England.  The  invasion  has  proceeded  in 
three  stages,  marked  by  the  names  of  Daly, 
Frohman,  and  Lederer.  We  have  sometimes 
had  two  or  three  American  musical  plays  run- 
ning simultaneously  at  as  many  London  play- 
houses ;  and,  as  I  write,  Mr.  Charles  Frohman 
has  the  control  of  at  least  three  theatres,  at  one 
of  which,  the  Lyceum,  Mr.  Gillette,  with  his 
American  company,  is  attracting  all  London  to 
his  American  dramatisation  of  '  Sherlock 
Holmes.' 

"There  is,  however,  another  side  to  the 
picture.  While  the  importation  of  American 
actors,  singly  or  in  companies,  has  been  steadily 
growing,  and  will  soon,  probably,  balance  the 
exportation  of  English  actors  to  America,  there 
is  very  little  evidence  of  a  similar  increase  in 
the  importation  of  American  plays.  If  we  rule 
out  plays  by  English  authors  which  happened 
to  be  first  acted  in  America,  and  American 
adaptations  of  French  and  German  plays,*  we 
shall  find  that  for  every  American  play  that 
reaches  the  English  stage,  at  least  ten  English 
plays  (at  a  moderate  estimate)  find  their  way 
across  the  Atlantic.  During  the  seventies  and 
eighties,  about  half  a  dozen  clever  plays  by 
Mr.  Bronson  Howard  were  produced  in  England 
(some  of  them  in  Anglicised  form),  and  met 
with  considerable  success.  More  recently,  Mr. 
Gillette  has  given  us,  besides  '  Secret  Service,' 
a  stirring  military  drama  entitled  '  Held  by  the 
Enemy,'  and  Mr.  David  Belasco  a  play  of  the 
same  type,  '  The  Heart  of  Mar>'land.'  Mr. 
Paul  Potter's  crude  melodrama,  'The  Con- 
querors,' met  with  deserved  condemnation, 
and  Mr.  Augustus  Thomas's  charming  comedy 
'  Alabama '  was  treated  with  quite  undeserved 
neglect.  Of  the  numerous  works  of  Mr.  Clyde 
Fitch  which  have  achieved  popularity  in 
America,  only  one, '  The  Cowboy  and  the  Lady,' 
has  been  seen  in  Londc-n,  The  same  author's 
*  Pamela's  Prodigy'  and  'The  Last  of  the 
Dandies,'  both  English  in  scene  and  both  pro- 
duced in  Loudon,  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as 

*  One  can  scarcely  rank  as  American  plays  drama- 
tisations by  American  authors  of  English  novels,  such  as 
"Dr.  Jekyll  and  Mr.  Hyde,"  "  Trilby,"  and  "  Sherlock 
Holmes."  Nor  can  America  fairly  lay  claim  to  plays 
of  European  scene  and  subject,  written  for  the  London 
stage  by  American  authors  long  resident  in  Europe,  such 
as  Mr.  Henry  James  and  Mr.  Isaac  Henderson. 


American  plays.  A  fev/  minor  productions,, 
such  as  Mrs.  Madeleine  Lucette  Ryley's  agree- 
able comedy,  *  An  American  Citizen,'  and  one 
or  two  nondescript  pieces  of  the  music-hall  type, 
practically  complete  the  list  of  America's  literary 
or  quasi-literary  contributions  to  the  English 
stage. 

"  The  truth  is,  that  in  the  absence  of  a  protec- 
tive import  duty  on  European  plays,  the  native 
American  playwright  is  fatally  hampered  by 
French  and  English  competition.  The  theatrical 
season  in  America  comes  to  an  end  in  the 
month  of  April ;  and  the  moment  it  is  over,  the 
American  play-producers  (of  whom  Mr.  Charles 
Frohman  is  by  a  long  way  the  chief)  take  the 
first  steamer  for  Europe  in  order  to  see  and  buy 
up  all  the  French  and  English  novelties  that 
they  think  at  all  suitable  for  the  American 
market.  They  candidly  confess  their  preference 
for  foreign  goods.  By  observing  the  effect  of  a 
play  on  an  English  or  French  audience,  they 
can  estimate  with  some  precision  its  probable 
effect  on  an  American  audience ;  whereas  it 
takes  a  very  different  quality  of  imagination  and 
insight  to  divine  the  possibilities  of  an  American 
play,  which  they  have  to  read  in  manuscript, 
and  to  place  on  the  stage  with  no  help  or 
guidance  from  an  anterior  performance.  More- 
over, a  play  which  has  made  a  great  success  in 
Paris  or  London  is  thereby  '  boomed '  in 
advance,  the  American  public  being  as  yet 
unpatriotic  enough  to  flock  to  any  piay 
that  is  thoroughly  well  advertised,  without 
inquiring  whether  it  be  native  or  foreign.  In 
the  face  of  this  discouraging  attitude  of  the 
managers  and  the  public,  it  is  not  surprising 
that  the  native  American  drama  makes  but  slow 
progress.  The  two  most  original  and  charac- 
teristic American  dramatists,  Mr.  James  A» 
Heme  and  Mr.  Augustus  Thomas,  have  found 
no  favour  in  the  eyes  of  any  of  the  managers 
who  have  taken  the  lead  in  the  invasion  of 
England.  Not  one  of  the  very  remarkable 
plays  of  Mr.  Heme  has  been  seen  on  this  side 
of  the  Atlantic,  and  Mr.  Thomas's  Alabama 
(already  mentioned)  received  scant  justice  at 
the  hands  of  an  English  company,  which  did 
not  appreciate  its  delicacy.  Mr.  Clyde  Fitch  is 
the  only  American  playwright  who  is  encouraged 
by  the  all-powerful  Syndicate  which  holds  the 
American  stage  in  the  hollow  of  its  hand.  But 
though  Mr.  Fitch  is  an  American  by  birth, 
and  though  he  has  written  one  or  two  plays 
which  (in  their  titles  at  any  rate)  appeal  to 
American  patriotism,  he  is  certainly  the  least 
American  oi,  transatlantic  playwrights. 

"  In  spite  of  the  hostility  of  the  Syndicate  to 
native  effort,  it  is  impossible  to  believe  that 
America  will  long  be  without  a  national  drama. 
That  careful  study  of  all  the  phases  of  social. 


The  Theatre. 


121 


political,  and  spiritual  life,  which  is  so  marked 
a  feature  of  American  fiction,  must,  sooner  or 
later,  seek  expression  on  the  stage  as  well.  It 
is  greatly  to  be  desired  that  there  should  be 
complete  reciprocity  between  England  and 
America  in  the  matter  of  plays ;  but  as  yet  it 
cannot  be  questioned  that  on  the  whole  Eng- 
land is  the  exporting,  America  the  importing, 
country. 

"  Finally,  it  may  be  worth  while  to  inquire 
whether  there  is  any  likelihood  that  a  Syndicate 
or  Trust,  like  that  which  has  captured  the 
American  stage,  will  succeed  in  possessing 
itself  of  the  machinery  of  the  English  theatrical 
system  ?  Such  a  consummation  is  not,  I  think, 
imminent  The  strength  of  the  American  Syn- 
dicate lies  in  the  vast  extent  of  the  United 
States,  the  great  distances  between  the  various 
centres,  and  the  fact  that  New  York  does  not 
hold  anything  like  the  metropolitan  position 
with  respect  to  the  rest  of  America  which 
London  holds  with  respect  to  the  rest  of  Britain. 
Our  leading  actors  can  maintain  themselves  in 
London  alone,  their  occasional  provincial  tours 
being  comparatively  unimportant  to  them.  No 
American  '  star,'  on  the  other  hand,  can 
subsist  in  New  York  alone.  He  must  go  *'  on 
the  road  "  on  pain  of  sacrificing  the  greater  part 
of  his  financial  harvest;  and  the  Syndicate, 
having  contrived  to  get  control  of  all  the  leading 
provincial  theatres,  can  impose  on  him  what 
terms  it  pleases.  For  reasons  which  it  would 
take  too  long  to  explain,  it  would  be  difficult 
for  any  group  of  monopolists  to  acquire  such 
absolute  control  of  the  English  provincial 
theatres ;  and  even  if  it  did,  a  popular  actor- 
manager,  secure  in  his  London  theatre,  could 
easily  bid  it  defiance.  Therefore  I  do  not 
think  England  so  promising  a  field  as  the 
United  States  for  the  operations  of  a  theatrical 
Trust." 


Chapter  V. — Marriage  and  Society. 

Among  the  influences  which  are  Americanising 
the  world,  the  American  girl  is  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  and  the  most  charming, 

"Few  people  have  any  idea,"  said  Lord  Duf- 
ferin  to  me  some  twenty  years  ago,  in  discussing 
the  influence  of  America  upon  the  world,  "  of  the 
extent  to  which  the  diplomatic  service  is  Ameri- 
canised by  the  influence  of  marriage.  Nearly 
all  the  attaches  of  the  various  embassies  at 
Washington  are  captured,  before  their  term  of 
office  expires,  by  American  beauties  and  Ameri- 
can heiresses.  The  result  is  that  the  diplo- 
matic service,  the  only  service  which  is  really 


cosmopolitan,    is    Americanised    through    and 
through." 

Lord  Dufierin  was  the  first  to  point  out  what 
has  long  since  been  familiar  to  every  one.  Count 
Hatzfeldt,  who  was  for  so  many  years  German 
Ambassador  in  London,  was  one  of  the  many 
German  diplomatists  who  had  married  an 
American  wife.  The  most  conspicuous  features 
in  this  romantic  marriage  were  recalled  and 
expatiated  upon  at  length  in  all  the  American 
papers  on  the  occasion  of  the  Count's  death. 

A  still  more  curious  illustration  of  the  extent 
to  which  the  American  woman  has  married  into 
the  very  heart  of  German  diplomacy  was  afforded 
by  the  fact  that  when  the  German  Ambassador 
at  Peking  was  killed  by  the  Boxers  he  left  an 
American  widow,  and  that  when  Count  von 
Waldersee  was  sent  out  to  avenge  his  death  he 
had  to  bid  farewell  to  an  American  wife  before 
he  departed  to  avenge  the  wrongs  of  an  American 
widow. 

At  the  Hague  Conference  two  of  the  most 
brilliant  representatives  of  European  diplomacy. 
Baron  d'Estournelles,  for  a  long  time  cJiarge 
d^ affairs  in  London,  and  Baron  de  Bildt,  Swedish 
minister  at  Rome,  had  both  married  Americar> 
wives.  These  are  just  passing  illustrations  of 
the  truth  of  Lord  Dufierin's  remark.  Nothing 
could  be  more  in  the  nature  of  things  than  that 
the  young  naval  and  other  attacht^s  who  begin 
their  careers  at  Washington,  having  about  them 
the  glamour  of  a  distinguished  position,  and  in 
many  cases  of  titles,  should  attract  the  Ameri- 
can girl,  while  on  her  side  she  wields  the  two  ' 
weapons  of  beauty  and  wealth,  either  one  of 
which  would  suffice  for  conquest. 

English  diplomatists  succumb  quite  as  fre- 
quently as  any  others.  It  was  noted  recently 
on  the  marriage  of  Miss  Belle  Wilson,  of  New 
York,  to  the  Honourable  Michael  Herbert,  now 
British  Minister  at  the  Court  of  Copenhagen, 
that  a  Secretary  of  Legation  had  also  married 
an  American  wife,  and  therein  followed  the 
example  of  his  predecessor  in  the  same  post. 

It  is  not  only  in  diplomacy  that  the  American 
girl  achieves  her  triumphs.  Diplomatists  are 
iQ.\i,  whereas  men  of  title  and  of  mark  are  many. 
Hence,  every  year  an  increasing  number  of 
American  heiresses  marry  into  European  fam- 
ilies. This  tendency  is,  of  course,  most  marked 
in  Great  Britain  ;  but  it  is  noticeable  both  in 
France  and  Germany.  In  course  of  time,  in- 
deed, it  is  probable  that  all  European  nations 
will  be  privileged  to  contribute  bridegrooms  who 
will  be  offered  up  as  willing  sacrifices  on  the 
hymeneal  altar  of  America. 

It  is  only  the  more  conspicuous  heiresses  who 
attract  general  attention,  and  in  some  cases  the 
marriages  have  been  anything  but  ideal.  It  has 
been  a  case  of  the  bartering  of  dollars  against  a 


LADY  CURZON. 

{Photo  hy  Alice  Hughes.) 


Mrs.   GEORGE  CORNWALLIS-WEST. 
{Photo  by  Alice  Hughes.) 


THE  DUCHESS  OF  MARLBOROUGH. 
{Plioto  hy  Latpfier.) 


Mrs.  ARTHUR  PAGET. 
[Front  a  Pa  'ntivg  '>y  E  hvari  Hughes.) 


Marriage  and  Society 


123 


title,  with  a  woman  thrown  in  as  a  kind  of  arle 
penny  to  clinch  the  bargain.  This  impression 
as  to  the  mercenary  nature  of  many  of  these 
marriages  was  curiously  illustrated  a  year  or  two 
since  by  the  publication  of  a  correspondence 
between  Queen  Natalie  and  the  late  King 
Milan  of  Servia.  The  ill-mated  pair  were  dis- 
cussing the  best  way  of  rehabilitating  the  for- 
tunes of  the  Obrenovitch  dynasty  by  providing 
for  the  future  of  their  son,  the  present  king, 
whose  matrimonial  adventures  with  Queen 
Draga  have  afforded  so  many  paragraphs  to 
the  gossip-mongers  of  the  Continent.  The  sug- 
gestion in  that  correspondence  was  that  the 
young  Alexander  had  better  be  manied  to  an 
American  heiress,  not  because  tl>ere  was  any 
American  girl  of  whose  existence  they  were 
aware  who  was  likely  to  be  a  suitable  wife,  but 
solely  because  the  American  wife  was  expected 
to  bring  millions  as  her  dower.  The  signing  of 
the  marriage  contract  in  this  case  as  in  many 
others  was  merely  to  be  like  the  signing  of  a 
cheque,  which  empowered  the  husband  to  draw 
upon  the  banking  account  of  his  wife.  "  With 
all  my  worldly  goods  I  thee  endow  "  is  the  declara- 
tion which  in  the  English  marriage  service  is 
made  by  the  man.  It  is  because  the  American 
woman  has  taken  over  that  privilege  that  she 
has  come  to  be  regarded  as  a  kind  of  inex- 
haustible financial  reserve  by  the  spendthrift 
nobles  of  the  Old  World. 

Three  centuries  ago,  adventurers  who  had 
wrecked  their  substance  at  the  gaming-table,  or 
had  been  ruined  by  the  fortune  of  war,  clapped 
their  good  swords  by  their  sides  and  sailed  the 
Spanish  main  in  the  confident  expectation  of 
being  able  to  return  laden  with  the  plunder  of 
the  palace  of  Montezuma  or  of  the  gold  of  the 
Incas.  Nowadays  the  same  kind  of  gentry  cross 
the  Atlantic  on  a  similar  errand,  but  their 
methods  are  less  heroic  than  those  of  the  olden 
time.  Their  objective,  however,  is  the  same, 
and  many  times  they  are  even  more  successful. 
Heiress  after  heiress  has  been  brought  back  in 
triumph,  bearing  with  her  fortunes  which  would 
have  dazzled  Pizarro,  or  stayed  even  the 
ravenous  appetite  of  the  Elizabethan  captains 
who  seized  the  galleons  of  Spain. 

What  will  be  the  influence  of  this  continual 
influx  of  American  heiresses,  whose  millions 
replenish  the  exhausted  exchequer  of  European 
nobles  ?  M.  Finot,  the  acute  and  sagacious 
editor  of  La  Reinie,  recently  expounded  to  me 
when  I  was  in  Paris  a  theory  of  the  influence  of 
American  work  on  European  development, 
which  was  suggestive  of  much.  M.  Finot  main- 
tained that  the  plutocracy  of  the  New  World 
would  give  the  reactionar}'  party  in  the  Old 
World  a  new  lease  of  life.  The  great  landed 
proprietors,   the   heirs   of  historic   titles,   even 


some  royal  dynasties,  were  becoming  bank- 
rupt. The  unchecked  operation  of  economic 
causes  in  the  Old  World,  aided  by  the  pressure 
of  American  competition,  would,  in  the  course 
of  a  generation  or  two,  have  destroyed  feudalism 
in  Europe,  and  paved  the  way  for  the  advent  of 
a  more  or  less  socialistic  republic.  But  while 
economic  laws  with  iron  teeth  are  grinding  into 
powder  the  remains  of  the  feudal  system  in 
Europe,  hey,  presto  !  and  behold,  the  American 
heiress  descends  like  some  maleficent  fairy  to 
arrest  the  process  of  disintegration  and  decay, 
and  to  give  a  new  lease  of  power  to  the 
oligarchy  which  seemed  to  be  descending  into 
its  grave.  Old  castles  are  repaired  and  up- 
holstered with  the  aid  of  American  dollars. 
Mortgages  are  paid  off,  and  great  estates 
restored  to  the  possession  of  their  nominal 
owners.  The  plutocracy  of  the  New  World, 
reinforcing  the  aristocracy  of  the  Old,  robs 
democracy  of  its  destined  triumph. 

This  diagnosis  of  the  situation  is  worthy  of 
the  shrewd  and  penetrating  mind  of  my  brilliant 
friend,  a  man  who  unites  in  his  single  person 
the  genius  of  three  races.  After  all,  it  may  be 
pleaded  in  mitigation  of  the  offence  of  the 
American  heiress,  that  when  she  has  done  her 
utmost,  all  her  millions  can  do  but  little  to 
restore  the  dilapidation  which  has  been  wrought 
in  the  feudal  ramparts  by  the  steady  attrition  of 
American  competition.  Her  fathers  and  her 
brothers,  from  their  farms  on  the  prairie  and 
their  factories  in  Chicago,  ceaselessly  hurl  across 
the  Atlantic  vast  vessels  which  are  like  projectiles 
laden  with  food-stuffs,  whose  effect  upon  the  old 
order  in  the  Old  World  piay  be  compared  to  so 
many  dynamite  shells.  Through  the  breaches 
thus  made  in  the  ramparts  of  reaction,  a  whole 
flood  of  American  ideas  are  pouring  into 
Europe.  To  stem  this  the  richest  of  American 
heiresses  is  powerless.  At  best  she  can  only  rig 
up  for  her  husband  a  temporary  shelter  amid 
the  ruins. 

It  was  rather  a  degradation  of  thfe  idea  ot 
American  womanhood  to  regard  the  American 
girl  as  a  means  of  replenishing  the  exhausted 
exchequer,  a  kind  of  financial  resource,  like  the 
Income  Tax.  Indeed,  it  is  not  too  much  to 
say  that  when  there  is  no  love  in  the  matter,  it 
is  only  gilded  prostitution,  infinitely  more  culp- 
able from  the  moral  point  of  view  than  the 
ordinary  vice  into  which  women  are  often  driven 
by  sheer  lack  of  bread. 

When  I  published  the  *'  Maiden  Tribute " 
sixteen  years  ago,  Lord  Randolph  Churchill 
scoffed  at  the  idea  tlvit  vice  was  unpopular. 
He  declared  that  it  was  the  one  bond  of 
sympathy  between  the  aristocracy  and  the 
democracy ;  and  this  trading  with  American 
heiresses  for  coronets  may  from  this  point  of  view 


124 


The  Avicricanisaiion  of  the  World. 


be  regariled  as  the  toucli  of  nature  which  makes 
the  whole  world  kin.  It  is  at  least  a  proof  of 
the  persistency  of  the  spirit  of  the  snob,  which 
not  even  the  free  air  of  the  American  Republic 
is  able  to  exorcise.  What  is  bred  in  the  bone 
comes  out  in  the  flesh.  Many  Americans  in 
this  respect  bear  only  too  faithful  a  resemblance 
to  their  English  ancestors. 

It  would  be  a  monstrous  injustice  to  suggest 
that  marriage  between  titled  persons  in  the  old 
country  and  the  heiresses  of  the  New  World 
is  never  accompanied  by  affection  so  sincere 
that  the  dollars  are  mere  unconsidered  trifles 
thrown  into  the  bargain.  It  would  also  be  an 
absurd  misapprehension  of  facts  to  assume  that 
the  only  marriages  which  take  place  between 
men  of  the  Old  World  and  women  of  the  New 
are  accompanied  by  the  transfer  of  substantial 
bank  balances  from  America  to  England.  The 
American  girl  has  no  need  of  dollars  to  render 
her  attractive  to  English  suitors.  She  is  always 
bright,  vivacious  and  intelligent,  often  beautiful, 
and  not  seldom  a  very  desirable  wife  and 
mother. 

The  real  American  girl  in  her  millions  never 
has  the  opportunity  of  visiting  Europe.  We 
only  see  in  the  Old  World  a  very  small  per- 
centage of  American  womanhood,  that  which 
is  drawn  exclusively  from  the  wealthier  classes. 
Of  the  girls  of  the  class  represented  by  Miss 
Rebecca  Hallbom — a  Minnesota  girl  whose 
fame  is  trumpeted  in  the  American  newspapers 
as  the  breaker  of  all  records  as  the  milker  of 
cows — we  see  very  little  in  Europe.  Miss 
Hallbom  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  every  day  in  the 
week  milks  nineteen  cows  morning  and  evening, 
and  on  an  average  deprives  each  cow  of  its  milk 
in  less  than  five  minutes.  On  occasions  she 
will  milk  fifty  cows  in  a  day. 

The  attraction  which  men  of  the  Old  World 
have  for  the  women  of  the  New — for  many  more 
American  women  than  English  women  marry 
American  men — is  not  difficult  to  explain. 
There  is  a  certain  glamour  about  the  Old  World 
which  appeals  to  the  susceptible  feminine 
imagination.  The  attraction  of  ancient  lineage, 
of  ivy-clad  castles,  and  the  associations  of  a 
great  historic  name,  appeal  irresistibly  to  many 
minds.  It  is  also  true  that  American  men  are 
as  a  rule  more  immersed  in  business  than  men 
of  a  similar  class  in  the  Old  World.  There  is 
more  leisure  here,  less  rush,  and  more  oppor- 
tunity for  the  cultivation  of  domesticity.  And 
our  interests  are  often  more  varied,  and  the  Old 
World  life  is  both  picturesque  and  novel.  It  is 
also  asserted  (although  far  be  it  from  me  to 
express  any  opinion  on  the  subject)  that  the 
lovers  of  the  Old  World  are  more  ardent  in 
their  devotion  than  American  men,  while  others 
maintain  that  the  sex  loves  a  master,  and  that 


the  deeper  instinct  of  the  American  woman 
craves  for  a  husband  who  will  be  her  lord  and 
master.  This  I  takq  leave  to  doubt,  for  the 
instinct  of  domination  which  makes  the  American 
woman  mistress  both  of  her  home  and  all  that 
it  contains,  including  her  husband,  is  as  much 
in  evidence  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  as  on 
the  other. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  four  English 
statesmen  of  Cabinet  rank  have  married 
American  wives.  Mr.  Chamberlain,  after  having 
twice  married  an  Englishwoman,  has  found  his 
supreme  felicity  in  an  American,  Miss  Endicott. 
Sir  William  Harcourt  married  an  American,  so 
did  Mr.  Bryce,  and  so  also  did  Lord  Randolph 
Churchill,  wTiose  wife,  now  Mrs.  Comwallis- 
West,  is  one  of  the  few  American  women  who 
have  counted  for  anything  in  English  politics. 
American  women  on  this  side  of  the  water  are 
very  seldom  politicians,  although  some  of  them 
have  married  into  positions  where  to  exercise  a 
political  influence  would  have  been  both  easy 
and  natural.  The  Marlboroughs,  both  the  late 
Duke  and  the  present,  are  remarkable  for 
having  gone  to  America  for  their  wives. 
Consuelo  Vanderbilt,  w^hose  millions  have  ren- 
dered it  possible  to  revive  some  of  the  glories 
of  Blenheim — for  without  the  American  money 
it  would  have  been  difficult  for  the  Duke  even 
to  have  kept  his  windows  glazed — will  some 
day  probably  be  the  wife  of  the  Viceroy  of  Ire- 
land ;  while  Miss  Leiter  has  for  some  years  past 
been  Vice-Empress  of  India. 

Manchester  is  another  ducal  family  which  has 
had  two  American  Duchesses  in  succession. 
But  in  neither  case  have  they  contributed  much 
to  the  social,  political,  or  intellectual  life  of  the 
Old  Countr)\ 

On  the  Continent  there  are  many  American 
women  whose  names  figure  considerably  in  the 
newspapers.  The  most  remarkable  princess 
was  Miss  Heine,  who  married  the  Prince  of 
Monaco.  Another  princess  of  a  very  different 
character  who  figured  much  more  prominently 
in  the  papers,  not  altogether  by  the  superabund- 
ance of  her  virtues,  was  Miss  Clara  Ward 
of  Detroit,  who,  when  a  girl  of  eighteen, 
married  the  Prince  de  Chimay  and  Caraman,  a 
Belgian  title,  bringing  with  her  a  dowry  of  half 
a  million  sterling.  The  prince  brought  as  his 
marriage  portion  a  dissolute  past,  ^^'hen  the 
corruption  of  the  Old  World  married  the  wealth 
of  the  New,  the  result  was  what  might  have 
been  anticipated.  Since  the  meteoric  and 
meretricious  splendour  of  Lola  Montes,  few 
women  hfive  created  more  scandal  in  the  broad 
expanse  which  lies  between  Cairo  and  London. 

Such  careers,  however,  are  a  rare  exception. 
The  American  woman  in  Europe  may  be  ex- 
travagant, but   she  seldom  gives  any  occasion 


1 

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i^ffifS     .JL^ 

1  m 

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CLIVEDEN   HOUSE,   FROM  THE  THAMES. 


PMo  by  Frith  &•  Co.] 


KNEBWORTH    HOUSE. 


126 


The  Aviericanisation  of  the  World. 


for  scandal.  A  writer  in  an  American  magazine, 
who  discussed  the  question  of  transplanted 
American  beauty,  says  : — 

''  One  thing  is  quite  certain.  No  American 
girl  who  has  married  into  European  society 
wishes  to  return  home  to  the  stay-at-home  life 
of  American  women.  Although  many  difficulties 
have  beset  their  paths,  with  few  exceptions 
Anglo-American  matches  have  been  most  happy 
ones.  It  seems  to  be  a  woman's  crown  of  glory 
— in  England,  at  least — that  she  is  American- 
bom.  Until  Mrs.  Lewis  Hamersley  married 
the  Duke  of  Marlborough,  no  great  fortune  had 
gone  from  this  country  into  England,  and  it  is 
safe  to  say  that  nine  out  of  ten  marriages  there 
were  love  matches." 

The  Spanish  Princess  Eulalie,  who  visited  the 
United  States  at  the  time  of  the  World's  Fair, 
recently  contributed  an  article  upon  the 
American  girl  to  an  American  magazine.  She 
concluded  her  article  by  the  following  cryptic 
phrase :  "  When  American  girls  go  abroad  and 
marry  foreigners,  they  are  affectionate,  not  only 
in  proportion  to  the  attention  they  receive,  but 
also  by  reason  of  the  dowry  they  give." 

It  is  unnecessar}'^  to  do  more  than  refer  in 
passing  to  some  of  the  more  famous  of  the 
marriages  which  have  introduced  an  American 
strain  into  an  Old  World  family.  The  Countess 
Goblet  d'Alviella,  wife  of  the  well-known  Count 
Goblet  d'Alviella,  Liberal  leader,  scholar,  and 
senator  of  Belgiiun,  is  an  American.  So  is  the 
wife  of  M.  Henri  Monod,  the  Directeur  de 
I'Assistance  Publique  in  Paris.  The  Count 
Bosan  de  Perigord  and  Talleyrand,  the  son  of 
the  Princess  de  Sagan,  made  one  of  the  most 
recent  of  notable  American  marriages  when  he 
married  a  daughter  of  ex-Governor  Morton. 

The  Castellane  marriage,  which  made  Jay 
Gould's  daughter  Anna  a  French  countess,  is 
not  one  of  those  unions  which  go  to  the  credit 
iawxount 

The  sisters  Woodhall — Mrs.  Bradley  Martin, 
who  combines  her  social  functions  with  the 
editing  of  the  Humanitarian,  and  her  sister — 
Mrs.  Blomfield  Moore,  the  firiend  of  Browning 
and  the  patroness  of  Keeley,  of  Keeley  motor 
fame;  Mrs.  Mackay,  Mrs.  Sherwood,  Mrs. 
Arthur  Paget,  who  is  one  of  the  smartest  of  our 
smart  set — represent,  each  in  her  own  way, 
various  conductors  of  American  influence  upon 
English  and  European  life. 

But  marriage,  is  not  the  only  means  by  which 
society  is  being  Americanised.  The  process 
by  which  Great  Britain  is  being  converted  into 
the  family  seat  of  the  race  is  going  on  steadily. 
Every  year  one  or  another  American  family 
hires  or  buys  some  ancient  country  seat  or 
famous  mansion.  A  certain  number  still  remain 
true  to  their  Paris.      James  Gordon  Bennett 


appears  permanently  to  have  forsaken  his  native 
land  for  the  attractions  of  the  Riviera,  and  here 
and  there  in  the  pleasant  land  of  France  may 
be  found  Americans  who,  having  made  their 
pile  across  the  Atlantic,  find  more  of  the 
amenities  of  life  and  a  more  congenial  atmo- 
sphere in  country-seats  which  are  not  too  in 
from  the  boulevards. 

Apropos  of  the  American  absorption  of 
English  steamships,  tobacco  companies,  and 
castles,  the  New  York  journal  jjfe  publishes 
some  amusing  prophetic  pictures  of  what  we 
may  expect  to  see  ere  long.  The  pictures  are 
reproductions  of  the  familiar  photographs  of 
well-known  London  buildings  and  monuments^ 
with  additions.  The  first  of  the  series  is  a  view 
of  Trafalgar  Square,  with  a  view  of  the  Nelson 
monument  surmounted  by  a  gigantic  statue  of 
L'ncle  Sam.  The  second  shows  us  Parliament 
House,  underneath  which  we  read  the  inscrip- 
tion :  •'  The  residence  of  Mr.  John  B.  Grabb, 
of  Chicago.  This  building  is  historically  inter- 
esting as  having  been  formerly  the  seat  of  the 
British  Parliament."  The  statue  of  the  Iron 
Duke  from  Hyde  Park  Corner  is  furnished  witb 
the  American  flag,  and  labelled  :  "  This  statue 
is  now  on  its  way  to  Pittsburg."  There  is  a 
\-iew  of  the  Royal  Exchange  surmounted  by  a 
gigantic  bust  of  J.  P.  Morgan,  with  the  legend 
E  pluribus  unum,  and  the  comers  are  sur- 
mounted by  the  American  eagle  and  an  Ameri- 
can coat  of  arms. 

We  have  not  yet  come  to  this,  but  accord- 
ing to  the  latest  bogus  story  in  the  American 
newspapers,  American  millionaires  are  bidding 
eagerly  for  the  pri^^lege  of  becoming  tenants 
of  Osborne  House,  where  the  Queen  died. 
Senator  Clarke  of  Montana  is  said  to  have 
written  to  the  King,  asking  him  how  much  he 
will  take.  Mr.  Charles  G.  Yerkes,  of  Chicago 
fame,  is  said  to  be  also  in  the  field,  having 
as  his  dangerous  competitor  Mr.  W.  W.  Astor, 
who  is  credited  with  a  desire  to  present  Osborne 
to  his  daughter  Pauline  on  her  approaching 
marriage. 

We  have  not,  of  course,  got  quite  so  far  as  this, 
but  events  seem  to  be  going  somewhat  in  that 
direction.  The  purchase  of  Cliveden  from  the 
Duke  of  Westminster  gave  a  certain  shock  to 
English  societ)',  for  while  we  are  accustomed 
to  the  sale,  by  impecunious  nobles,  of  their 
hereditar}'  possessions  to  American  millionaires, 
it  was  a  novelty  to  find  that  one  of  the  richest 
dukes  was  willing  to  sell,  provided  he  had  his 
price,  to  the  American  tempter.  Mr.  Carnegie 
snapped  up  Skibo  Castle  in  North  !^tain ;  and 
one  of  his  partners,  Mr.  Phipps,  occupies  Kneb- 
worth  Castle,  which  is  famous  for  its  association 
with  Lord  Lytton.  These  are  but  illustra- 
tions of  the  way  in  which  the  new  Plutocracy 


JOHN   BULL  TAKES  A  STROLL. 


JOHN  BULL  IN   HIS  BUSINESS  OFFICE. 


.^ips^'^- 


HE  SIMPLY  PLOUGHS  THROUGH  THEM.  JOHN  BULL  TAKES  A  CAR. 

THE  AMERICAN    INVASION. 

{Somt  Car-toons  by  Mr.  F.  Ofptr  in  the  "New  York  Journal") 


128 


The  Aniericanisation  of  the  World. 


is  nestling  itself  in  the  old  haunts  of  the 
English  aristocracy.  The  newcomers  have 
plenty  of  money,  but  their  expenditure,  as  a 
rule,  is  not  characterised  by  a  reckless  extrava- 
gance. It  somewhat  startled  the  West  End 
when  an  American  newspaper  proprietor  rented 
a  palace  here,  and  provided  a  stud  of  thirty 
horses  as  part  of  the  appurtenances  necessary  to 
his  existence ;  but  that  was  exceptional.  We 
have  suffered  little  from  the  vulgar  ostentation 
of  the  wealthy  parvenu.  The  Americans  who 
have  settled  in  our  midst  have  been  educated 
gentlemen  of  means,  whose  chief  ambition  has 
been  to  merge  themselves  quietly  and  unosten- 
tatiously in  the  society  in  the  midst  of  which 
they  have  taken  up  their  abode. 

It  is  estimated  that  there  are  about  15,000 
Americans  more  or  less  constantly  resident  in 
London.  It  is  a  shifting  population,  but  the 
majority  are  j^ermanent.  In  order  to  form  a 
social  centre  for  the  feminine  section  of  this 
Colony,  Mrs.  Hugh  Reid  Griffin,  formerly  of 
Chicago,  founded  the  Society  of  American 
Women,  which  has  as  a  badge  the  arms  of  the 
City  of  London  surmounted  by  the  American 
eagle,  with  the  Union  Jack  on  one  side,  and  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  on  the  other.  The  society 
was  framed  on  the  lines  of  the  Sorosis  Club  of 
New  York,  and  its  declared  object  was  the  pro- 
motion of  social  intercourse  between  American 
women. 

Mr.  J.  Pierpont  Morgan  in  the  City  is  a  name 
to  conjure  with.  But  his  influence  is  financial, 
rather  than  social.  The  mention  of  Mr.  Morgan 
recalls  the  fact  that  it  was  he  who  undertook  to 
defray  the  whole  cost  of  installing  the  electric 
light  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral.  The  sum  of 
^9,000  is  trivial  to  a  millionaire,  but  somehow 
or  other  the  British-born  millionaire  does  not 
seem  to  think  of  it. 

And  this  leads  me  to  a  concluding  observa- 
tion as  to  one  beneficent  side  of  American 
influence  on  English  life.  The  habit  of  giving 
is  one  of  the  Americanisms  which  have  not 
yet  been  successfully  acclimatised  in  the  Old 
World.  The  first  American  to  make  a  distinct 
impact  upon  the  English  conscience  by  the 
force  of  his  example  was  Mr.  Peabody,  whose 
effigy  in  bronze,  seated  in  an  armchair  in  the 
midst  of  "  streaming  London's  central  roar,"  is  a 
much  less  valuable  memorial  than  the  continued 
usefulness  of  the  Peabody  Trust,  and  all  the 
other  trusts  for  rehousing  the  poorer  classes  of 
our  great  cities,  which  have  sprung  into  existence 
as  the  result  of  his  initiative. 

But  no  one  has  preached  the  gospel  of  wealth 
so  vigorously  and  has  begun  to  practise  it  of 
late  years  so  munificently  as  Mr.  Andrew 
Carnegie.  He  is  at  present  engaged  in  a 
valiant  but  wholly  unsuccessful  effort  to  escape 
the  malediction  which  falls  upon  those  who  die 


rich.  At  the  same  time  it  must  be  admitted 
that  probably  no  one  has  ever  given  away  in  a 
single  year  as  much  money  as  Mr.  Carnegie 
distributed  in  the  last  twelve  months.  Accord- 
ing to  a  list  published  on  his  return  to  New 
York  last  November,  he  succeeded  last  year  in 
distributing  eight  millions  sterling  in  various 
quarters.  One-fourth  of  this  sum  is  represented 
by  the  two  millions  with  which  he  endowed  the 
Scottish  universities;  one  million  went  to  the 
libraries  of  New  York  City ;  more  than  one 
and  a  half  millions  went  to  the  Carnegie  Insti- 
tute in  Pittsburg ;  and  ^800,000  to  a  pension 
fund  for  his  workmen  in  the  same  city.  Mis- 
cellaneous gifts  in  the  United  States  represent 
^850,000,  and  the  rest  of  the  money  appears 
to  have  been  distributed  for  the  most  part  in  the 
endowment  of  libraries  in  Scotland  and  in  the 
United  States 

The  widow's  mite  which  she  cast  into  the 
Treasury  will  no  doubt  outweigh  all  the  benefac- 
tions of  the  millionaires.  But  although  it  is  not 
given  to  Mr.  Carnegie  to  break  the  record  of  that 
widow,  we  may  at  least  point  to  his  example  as 
one  which  we  should  be  glad  to  see  British- 
born  millionaires  attempt  to  imitate. 


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ANDRKW  CARNEGIE. 


(     129     ) 


Chapter  VI. — Sport. 

No  one  who  remembers  the  imi:)ortant  part 
which  the  Isthmian  Games  played  in  ancient 
Greece  will  be  disposed  to  deny  the  political 
importance  of  athletics  and  of  sport  generally 
as  a  means  of  promoting  a  sense  of  unity  among 
the  English-speaking  peoples  of  the  world. 
Among  the  millions  of  the  United  Kingdom. 
cricket  did  more  to  make  Australia  and  the 
Australians  living  realities  than  all  the  geo- 
graphies and  all  the  political  discussions  which 
have  taken  place  over  the  Federation  of  the 
Australian  Commonwealth.  It  is  one  of  the 
advantages  of  contests,  whether  on  the  turf,  the 
cricket  field,  or  on  the  water,  that  defeat  is  as 
potent  as  victory  in  creating  interest  and  pro- 
moting a  sense  of  comradeship.  The  brother- 
hood of  the  Turf  may  not  be  the  highest  of 
brotherhoods,  but  it  has  been  for  many  genera- 
tions a  very  real  fraternity  which  has  done  a 
good  deal  in  England  towards  bridging  the 
chasm  between  the  classes  and  providing  a 
democratic  meeting  place  in  which  dukes  and 
bookmakers,  jockeys  and  millionaires  could 
meet,  if  not  exactly  on  an  equal  footing,  at  least 
upon  common  ground.  Sports  which  twenty 
years  ago  were  almost  exclusively  national  have 
now  become  international,  and  every  year 
increases  the  number  of  events  in  which  the 
primary  interest  of  sport  is  reinforced  by 
national  rivalry. 

The  most  conspicuous  contest  of  1901  was 
the  stoutly  contested  struggle  made  by  Sir 
Thomas  Lipton's  yacht  Shamrock  IT.  to  win 
the  America  Cup.  To  the  eyes  of  the  philo- 
sophic moralist  there  was  a  dangerous  resem- 
blance between  the  popular  interest  in  the  Cup 
races  off  Sandy  Hook  and  the  popular  interest 
of  the  Byzantines  in  the  races  between  blue 
and  green  charioteers  in  the  circus.  For  a 
fortnight  the  progress  of  the  campaign  in  South 
Africa  upon  which,  we  are  told,  the  very  exist- 
ence of  the  Empire  depends,  was  completely 
obscured  by  the  latest  telegrams  describing  the 
varying  fortunes  of  the  competitors  for  the  Cup. 
In  this  great  international  yacht  race  we  have 
been  beaten  decisively.  Eleven  times  the 
British  have  attempted  to  lift  the  America  Cup, 
and  eleven  times  have  they  failed.  We  were 
beaten  on  our  meiits.  The  Americans  have 
built  better  yachts,  and  the  better  yacht  has 
won.  Sir  Thomas  Lipton  has  apparentlj-  not 
yet  made  up  his  mind  whether  he  will  make  a 
a  third  attempt  in  1903,  but  if  he  fails  no  one 
else  seems  disposed  to  renew  the  challenge.  It 
is  not  without  significance  that  but  for  Sir 
Thomas  Lipton,  who  is  a  partially  Americanised 


SIR  THOMAS   LIPTON. 
[,Photo  by  Elliott  is'  Fry.) 

Irishman,  no  attempt  would  have  been  made  to 
dispute  the  primacy  of  America.  On  the  two 
previous  occasions  the  challenger  was  Lord 
Dunraven,  who  is  also  an  Irishman,  while  all 
our  best  yachts  are  built  in  Scotland.  Eng- 
land, except  for  sail-making,  would  appear  to 
have  definitely  quitted  the  field. 

Possibly  if  the  America  Cup  is  to  leave  the 
United  States  it  may  be  carried  off  by  the 
Canadians  or  by  the  Australians,  although  the 
latter  have  as  yet  shown  no  disposition  to  enter 
the  lists.  But  whatever  be  the  result,  it  is 
admitted  that  in  the  designing  of  yachts  the 
Americans  have  led  the  way  ever  since  they 
carried  off  the  famous  Cup  in  a  struggle  with 
rivals  around  the  Isle  of  Wight.  It  was  they 
who  made  the  centre-board  and  the  "  skimming 
dish  "  the  potent  factors  which  they  are  to-day, 
and  though  there  has  been  a  tendency  of  late 
years  to  modify  these  extreme  typos,  the  Ameri- 
can racing  machine  has  permanently  modified 
for  good  or  evil  the  yacht  construction  of  the 
whole  world. 

The  only  other  form  of  aquatic  sport  in  which 
the  general  public  take  a  keen  interest  is  that  of 
pair-oar  sculling,  leaving  on  one  side  the  Uni- 
versity eight-oar  matches.  The  single  sculling 
championship  of  the  world  was  wrested  from 
Great  Britain  when  E.  H.  Ten  Eyck,  of  Wor- 
cester, defeated  Blackbume,  and  carried  off  the 

K 


sport. 


131 


championship  across  the  Atlantic.  Difficuhies 
were  raised  about  his  rowing  at  Henley,  and 
this  year,  after  having  in  vain  challenged  any 
one  to  contest  his  claim  at  the  National  Regatta 
on  the  Schuylkill,  he  retired  on  his  laurels. 
When  we  come  to  eight-oar  racing,  the  English 
Universities  have  retained  the  lead,  but  there  is 
no  disposition  on  the  part  of  Yale  or  Harvard 
to  acquiesce  in  their  supremacy.  Recently 
there  was  an  ugly  moment  when  it  seemed  as  if 
the  stewards  at  Henley  would  barr  foreign  com- 
petitors from  the  Henley  course.  That  proposal, 
which  would  have  been  regarded  as  a  jiractical 
admission  that  we  dared  not  face  our  inter- 
national competitors,  was  fortunately  rejected. 

After  aquatics  the  sport  which  excites  the 
greatest  interest  is  the  Turf.  The  year  1901 
was  famous  in  the  annals  of  the  British  Turf  by 
the  fact  that  for  the  first  time  in  our  histoiy  both 
the  great  classic  races,  the  Derby  and  the  Oaks, 
were  won  by  Americans.  Volodyovski  was  bred 
by  Lady  Meux,  and  was  only  leased  by  Mr.  W.  ' 
C.  \Vhitney,  the  American,  under  whose  colours 
it  was  run.  But  he  was  trained  by  an  Ameri- 
can, Mr.  Huggins,  and  ridden  by  the  American 
jockey,  Lester  Reift".  Mr.  Whitney  also  estab- 
lished a  record  by  handing  over  the  Derby 
stakes  to  charity.  The  Oaks  was,  however,  a 
more  genuine  American  victory  than  the  Derby, 
for  Cap  and  Bells  H.  was  bred  in  the  United 
States,  owned  by  Mr.  Foxhall  Keene,  and  ridden 
by  Martin  Henry,  the  American  jockey.  The 
tilly  was,  however,  trained  by  an  Englishman. 

The  American  invasion  of  the  British  Turf  is 
no  new  thing.  Nearly  fifty  years  ago,  Mr.  Ten 
Broeck  brought  over  Lexington  and  her  stable 
companion  Priorus,  who  won  the  Cesarewitch  after 
a  dead  heat.  Mr.  Whitney,  who  won  the  Derby 
this  year,  and  threatened  to  leave  the  English 
turf  as  the  result  of  the  sentence  upon  Lester 
Reiff  by  the  Jockey  Club,  only  began  racing  in 
England  in  1899.  The  most  notable  American 
on  the  English  turf  is  Mr.  Richard  Croker,  who 
has  established  himself  at  V/antage,  and  finds 
the  English  racecourse  his  most  delightful  tonic. 

Newmarket  for  1901  closed  in  a  blaze  of 
triumph  for  the  Americans.  Of  the  five  leading 
events,  including  the  Cambridgeshire,  only  one 
was  won  by  a  horse  in  which  Americans  were 
not  directly  interested.  Two  of  the  five  chief 
winners  were  bred  in  America;  three  of  the 
winners  were  trained  by  an  American,  and  four 
were  ridden  by  American  jockeys. 

The  American  owner  is,  however,  of  less  im- 
portance to  the  mass  of  the  public  than  the 
American  jockey,  whose  style  of  riding  first 
.startled  and  then  dazzled  his  English  competitors. 
The  American  jockey  sits  upon  the  shoulders  of 
his  horse,  almost  on  the  neck,  a  method  of  horse- 
manship which  in  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Croker  is 


equivalent  to  a  reduction  of  the  riding  weight  to 
the  extent  of  half  a  stone.  Sloan  and  the  two 
Reifts  found  little  difficulty  in  taking  a  first  place 
among  the  winning  jockeys  of  the  last  two  or 
three  years.  Unfortunately  the  brilliance  of 
their  success  has  been  somewhat  marred  by  the 
censure  passed  upon  Sloan  and  Lester  Reiff"  by 
the  Jockey  Club.  The  verdict  upon  Reiff"  was 
confined  solely  to  one  race  at  Manchester,  in 
which  he  was  accused  of  not  having  done  his 
best  to  win.  Sloan  in  1899  is  said  to  have 
received  ;^i  5,000  as  his  riding  fees,  and  to  have 
won  as  much  more  in  wagers.  Mr.  Huggins. 
who  came  over  with  Mr.  Lorillard,  was  reputed 
to  have  received  a  salary  of  _;^io,ooo  a  year, 
plus  a  percentage  on  the  winnings  of  the  stable. 
There  has  been  a  good  deal  of  discussion  as  to 
the  secret  of  the  success  of  American  and 
American  trained  horses  upon  the  English  turf. 
One  theory  which  finds  much  favour  among 
American  authorities  is  that  the  American  horse 
wins  for  the  same  reason  that  the  American 
citizen  is  more  energetic  than  his  English  rivals. 
Transatlantic  breeders  do  not  breed  in  and  in 
like  those  of  England,  and  they  have  imported 
steadily  for  years  past  the  very  best  blood  of 
England,  France,  and  Australia.  They  hold 
that  the  practice  of  in- breeding  tends  to  make 
the  English  horse  unduly  nervous. 

In  leaping  the  American  horse  holds  the 
record.  Heatherbloom,  last  November  at  New 
York,  cleared  with  ease  a  barrier  7  ft.  4  ins. 
high.  He  was  given  a  sixty  yards  run.  In 
private  practice  the  week  before  he  is  said  to 
have  jumped  7  ft.  8  ins. 

Of  the  success  of  the  American  trainer  there 
can  be  no  doubt.  Again  and  again  an  American 
trainer  has  taken  a  horse  which  was  regarded  as 
altogether  out  of  the  running,  and  has  sent  him 
to  the  post  in  such  a  condition  that  he  has  won 
stake  after  stake.  For  instance,  Wishard,  who 
turned  out  more  winners  in  the  racing  season  of 
1900  than  any  other  American,  bought  Royal 
Flush  for  400  guineas,  trained  him  for  an  Ameri- 
can, Mr.  Drake ;  put  an  American  jockey, 
J.  Reiff",  upon  his  back,  and  carried  off"  first  the 
Royal  Hunt  Cup,  and  then  the  Steward's  Cup  at 
Goodwood.  He  afterwards  won  several  plates 
and  handicaps,  and  was  sold  at  the  end  of  the 
season  for  1250  guineas.  It  is  the  brains  of  the 
man  rather  than  the  breeding  of  the  horse  which 
enables  him  to  gain  the  victory.  In  one  depart- 
ment of  racing  the  Americans  have  the  field 
entirely  to  themselves.  No  attempt  has  ever 
been  made  in  the  United  Kingdom  to  rival  the 
fast  trotters  of  the  United  States.  At  present 
Cresceus  is  the  champion  trotter  of  the  world, 
having  broken  all  record  this  year  by  covering 
the  mile  in  two  minutes  and  two  and  a  quarter 
seconds. 

K  2 


1^2 


The  Americanisation  of  the   World. 


Polo  is  also  taking  its  place  among  interna- 
tional events.  In  1900,  American  and  English 
teams  competed  at  Hurlingham,  the  Americans 
being  beaten  by  eight  goals  to  two. 

In  athletic  sports,  strictly  so  called,  the  con- 
tests between  the  two  nations  is  kept  up  very 
briskly,  although  the  balance  even  here  inclines 
to  the  United  States.  In  most  quick  races  in 
which  everything  depends  upon  the  rapidity  with 
which  the  runner  can  obtain  a  maximum  speed, 
the  Americans  beat  the  more  phlegmatic  English- 
man. When  Oxford  and  Cambridge  sent  their 
best  men  to  the  United  States  this  autumn,  the 
English  won  the  half-mile  and  the  mile  and  the 
two  miles,  ail  these  races  being  carried  off 
by  Cambridge  men.  The  Americans  won  the 
hundred  yards  and  the  quarter  mile. 

They  were  also  victorious  in  hammer  throwing, 
the  high  jump,  the  broad  jump,  and  120  yards 
over  hurdles.  In  1900,  when  the  Americans 
came  over  to  Stamford  Bridge,  they  carried  off 
the  prizes  for  the  100  yards  and  \  mile  races. 
They  were  also  victorious  in  putting  the  weight, 
the  high  jump,  throwing  the  hammer,  the  long 
jump,  and  the  hurdle  race. 

The  Americans  have  beaten  us  in  cycling. 
In  boxing  the  Americans  have  had  it  their 
own  way.  The  championship  of  the  world  in 
the  prize  ring  has  gone  to  the  United  States, 
and  is  likely  to  remain  there.  This,  which 
was  at  one  time  the  distinctive  sport  of  Great 
Britain,  is  now  practically  abandoned  to  the 
Americans.  In  golf,  which  the  Americans  have 
taken  up  keenly  of  late  years,  we  may  expect 
to  find  a  keen  struggle  for  the  championship. 
Last  year  Miss  Genevieve  Hecker  of  Connec- 
ticut won  the  American  Woman's  Champion- 
ship, at  the  age  of  nineteen. 

Hitherto  the  Americans  have  not  done  much 
in  cricket,  but  encouraged  by  the  success  with 
which  they  defeated  a  second  rate  English  eleven 
they  are  now  preparing  to  enter  the  field  against 
us  on  our  own  ground. 

It  is  not  without  significance  that  the  inter- 
national Olympian  games,  which  were  revived 
at  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century  by  a  com- 
mittee, of  which  Baron  de  Coubertin  is  the 
chairman,  should  hold  their  next  meeting  in 
Chicago.  Their  first  was  held  at  Athens.  This 
international  athletic  contest  will  last  for  a 
month  to  six  weeks,  and  will  be  held  in  Septem- 
ber, 1904.  The  United  States  Legations  and 
Consuls  throughout  Europe  will  probably  act  as 
agents  for  distributing  information  and  adver- 
tising this  fixture,  so  as  to  give  it  the  importance 
of  a  great  world-wide  _/?/^. 


Chapter  VII. — "  The  American  Invasion." 

It  was  not  till  the  close  of  last  century  that 
the  United  States  could  be  said  to  have  secured 
the  commercial  primacy  of  the  world.*  But  the 
fact  that  they  would  supersede  us  had  long  been 
foreseen  by  the  more  prescient  amongst  us. 
Conspicuous  among  these  was  Mr.  Gladstone, 
who  in  1878  and  again  in  1890  expressed  in  the 
clearest  terms  his  conviction  both  as  to  the 
inevitableness  of  the  change,  and  also,  what  was 
more  important,  his  view  as  to  the  way  in  which 
it  should  be  regarded  by  this  country : — 

"It  is  America,"  he  said,  "who  at  a  given  time  and 
probably  will  wrest  from  us  that  commercial  primacy. 
We  have  no  title :  I  have  no  inclination  to  murmur  at 
the  prospect.  If  she  acquires  it,  she  will  make  the 
acquisition  by  the  right  of  the  strongest  ;  but  in  this 
instance  the  strongest  means  the  best.  She  will  probably 
'become  what  we  are  now — head  servant  in  the  great 
household  of  the  world,  the  employer  of  all  employed, 
because  her  service  will  be  the  most  and  ablest.  We 
have  no  more  title  against  her  than  Venice,  or  Genoa,  or 
Holland  has  against  us." 

The  moral  which  he  drew  from  the  certainty 
of  our  relegation  to  a  secondary  position  was 
one  to  which  unfortimately  we  have  given  but 
little  heed.  Mr.  Gladstone  in  1878,  as  pre- 
viously in  1866,  implored  his  coxmtrymen  to 
recognise  the  great  duty  of  preparing  "by  a 
resolute  and  sturdy  effort  to  reduce  our  public 
burdens  in  preparation  for  a  day  when  we  shall 
probably  have  less  capacity  than  we  have  now 
to  bear  them." 

In  1866,  when  Mr.  Gladstone  first  uttered  his 
memorable  warning  as  to  our  prospective  loss 
of  commercial  primacy,  our  national  expenditure 
amounted  to  ;^66,ooo,ooo.  Thirty-four  years 
afterwards  the  extent  of  our  response  to  his 
appeal  for  "  a  sturdy  and  resolute  effort "  may  be 
gauged  by  the  fact  that  our  expenditure  for 
1900-1  amounted  to  ^^183,592, 000  sterling, 
and  we  are  still  engaged  in  a  war  which  will 
indefinitely  increase  the  weight  of  the  burdens 
which  we  shall  have  to  bear  in  future. 

As  to  the  fact  that  we  could  not  possibly 
hope  to  hold  our  own  against  the  United  States, 

*  The  following  figures  condense  into  a  nutshell  the 
story  of  the  last  thirty  years'  material  progress  of  the 
United  States. 

[In  millions]. 
Products.  1870.        1880.       1890.       1900. 

Wheat  (bu.).  .  .  235-8  498-5  399*2  5222-2 
Corn  (bu.)  .  .  .  1094-2  1717-4  1489*0  2105*1 
Cotton  (bales)    .      .  3-0  5*7  7*3  9-4 

Wool  (lbs.)  .  .  162-0  232-5  276*0  288*6 
Petr^okum       (gals..J    ^g^.^      g^,.^     ^^^,.g  ^^^.^ 

Bit.  coal  (tons,  1876)       28-9        38-2        99-3     *iy2-6 


The  American  Invasion.'^ 


Mr.  Gladstone  had   no   doubt   whatever.     He 
said : — 

"While  we  have  been  advancing  with  portentous 
rapidity,  America  is  pas,sin<j  us  by  as  if  in  a  canter. 
There  can  hardly  be  a  doubt,  as  between  America  and 
England,  of  the  belief  that  the  daughter  at  no  very 
distant  time  (it  was  written  in  1878)  will,  whether  fairer 
or  less  fair,  be  unquestionably  yet  stronger  than  the 
mother." 

The  process,  inevitable  in  any  case,  would, 
he  thought,  be  accelerated  if  the  Americans 
adopted  Free  Trade. 

"If  America,"  he  wrote  in  1890,  "shall  frankly  adopt 
and  steadily  rraintain  a  system  of  Free  Trade,  she  will 
by  degrees,  perhaps  not  slow  degrees,  outstrip  us  in  the 
race,  and  will  probably  take  the  place  which  at  present 
belongs  to  us  ;  hut  she  will  not  injure  us  by  the  opera- 
tion. On  the  contrary,  she  will  do  us  good.  Her 
freedom  of  trade  will  add  to  our  present  commerce  and 
our  present  wealth,  so  that  we  shall  be  l)etter  than  we 
are  now." 

A  remark  which  is  hardly  consistent  with  his 
previous  warning  as  to  the  necessity  for  our 
reducing  our  probable  burdens  on  the  ground 
that  our  capacity  to  bear  them  would  be  not 
greater,  but  less  than  it  is  now. 

Few  things  are  more  topsy-turvy  than  the 
popular  notions  concerning  trade.  Convictions 
which  are  most  firmly  held  by  millions  of  people 
are  demonstrably  flilse,  but  they  influence  legisla- 
tion, they  dictate  politics,  and  they  dominate 
public  opinion.  Take,  for  instance,  the  balance 
of  trade.  It  is  admitted  that  all  trade  is  barter, 
and  that  no  nation  will  part  with  its  goods  to 
another  nation  without  receiving  a  rorres[)onding 
equivalent.  If  two  persons  are  doing  business 
with  one  another,  and  Mr.  Jones  sends  ^1000 
worth  of  wool  to  Mr.  Smith,  he  expects  to 
receive  back  goods  of  equal  value.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  instead  of  receiving  say  coal  to 
the  value  of  _;^iooo  in  exchange  for  the  ^^looo 
worth  of  wool  he  receives  coal  only  to  the 
value  of  ;^7 50,  every  one  would  admit,  and  Mr. 
Jones  first  of  all,  that  he  was  ^^{^250  to  the  bad. 
He  sent  out  goods  worth  ;^iooo,  and  only 
received  in  return  commodities  to  the  value  of 
^750.  What  can  be  more  obvious?  But  the 
moment  you  substitute  for  Mr.  Jones  and  Mr. 
Smith  two  nations,  and  you  raise  the  value  from 
a  thousand  to  a  hundred  millions,  people  believe 
and  assert  that  it  is  an  advantage  to  export  a 
hundred  millions'  worth  of  goods  and  receive 
only  seventy-five  millions'  worth  in  exchange. 
If  any  man  went  on  trading,  giving  ;;^iooo 
worth  of  wool  for  jQl^o  of  coal,  every  one  admits 
that  he  would  go  straight  to  the  Bankruptcy 
Court ;  bftt  if  a  nation  sends  out  a  hundreil 
millions'  worth  of  exports  and  only  receives  in 
exchange  seventy-five  millions,  the  nation  whose 
imports  are  25  per  cent,  less  than  her  exports 
declares  that  the  balance  of  trade  is  in  her  favour 


to  the  extent  of  twenty-five  millions  a  year ! 
Political  economists  have  repeatedly  and  labori- 
ously exj)Iained  that  the  excess  of  exports  is 
a  balance  against  the  exporting  nation,  but 
nothing  seems  to  be  able  to  shake  the  inveterate 
delusion  that  a  nation  which  exports  more  than 
it  imports  makes  a  profit  to  the  extent  of  the 
difference. 

That  is  one  paradox.  Another  which  is  at 
present  even  more  widely  diffused  on  this  side 
of  the  Atlantic  is  that  a  nation  is  injured  when 
it  is  able  to  buy  the  goods  tiiat  it  requires 
more  cheaply  from  another  nation  than  they 
could  be  produced  at  home.  Take,  for  instance, 
this  question  of  the  so-called  American  ''  inva- 
sion." It  is  obvious  that  there  would  be  no  foot- 
hold for  the  American  invader  in  this  country  if 
he  were  not  welcomed  by  the  inhabitants  of  this 
country.  The  American  invasion  succeeds 
because  the  American  invaders  are  able  to  give 
the  British  purchaser  either  better  or  cheaper 
goods,  so  that  he  gets  more  value  for  his  money 
than  he  would  get  by  trading  with  any  one 
else.  If  the  American  invasion  was  a  bad  thing 
for  us,  we  could  only  be  compelled  to  take 
American  goods  by  compulsion  exercised  either 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  or  in  some  other 
way.  The  very  reverse  is  the  fact.  The 
American  invasion  prospers  because  English- 
men and  Europeans  find  it  more  to  their 
personal  interest  and  individual  profit  to  deal 
with  Americans  rather  than  to  deal  with  their 
own  countrymen.  The  presence  of  the  Ameri- 
can invaders  in  our  midst  is  resented  as  if  it 
were  an  outrage  on  international  amity,  as  if  the 
Americans  bearing  gifts  in  their  hands  were  bent 
upon  doing  us  the  greatest  possible  injury.  It 
is,  of  course,  perfectly  true  that  the  manufac- 
turer who  fjroduces  dearer  goods  finds  the 
presence  of  the  American  competitor  who  sup- 
plies cheaper  goods  or  better  goods  very  incon- 
venient ;  and,  unless  he  can  compete  on  equal 
terms,  he  will  go  to  the  wall.  But  if  he  goes  to 
the  wall,  he  goes  there  by  the  very  choice  of  the 
jieople  of  this  country,  each  one  of  whom,  when 
he  has  sixpence  to  spend,  is  as  absolute  as  any 
Tsar  or  Kaiser  as  to  the  way  in  which  he  will 
ilis|)Ose  of  that  particular  coin  of  the  realm 
which  he  has  in  his  pocket  when  he  goes  out  to 
shop. 

It  is  the  more  extraordinary  that  this  doctrine 
should  have  obtained  so  much  hold  among 
Englishmen,  of  all  people  in  the  world.  Al- 
though to-day  we  are  all  talking  of  the  American 
invasion,  for  the  last  hundred  years  it  has 
been  the  peculiar  glory  of  Englishmen  that 
they  have  invaded  victoriously  all  the  neutral 
markets  of  the  world,  and  that  they  have  sup- 
plied cheaper  goods  and  better  goods  to  the 
inhabitants  of  everv  continent     It  is  obvious 


The  Atneruan  Inva  ioji." 


OD 


tliat  what  for  a  hundred  years  has  been  an 
exploit  justifying  us  in  acclaiming  ourselves  as 
the  benefactors  of  humanity  cannot  become  a 
cause  of  complaint  when  the  people  who  are 
conferring  this  benefit  happen  not  to  be  domi- 
ciled in  the  United  Kingdom,  but  are  English- 
speaking  men  who  are  domiciled  in  the  United 
States  of  America.  The  outcry  which  has  been 
made  against  American  competition,  which  may 
be  excused  in  all  protectionist  countries,  is  singu- 
larly out  of  place  in  the  mouths  of  the  great 
free-trading  nation  which,  for  fifty  years  past, 
has  proclaimed  aloud  in  the  hearing  of  all  man- 
kind the  supreme  duty  of  buying  in  the  cheapest 
market  and  selling  in  the  dearest.  The  Ameri- 
cans are  only  doing  to-day  what  we  have  to  the 
uttermost  of  our  ability  been  endeavouring  to  do 
ever  since  they  came  into  existence,  and  unless 
the  recognised  principles  of  political  economy 
upon  which  we  have  acted  since  the  days  of 
Peel  and  Gladstone  arc  exploded  heresies,  the 
presence  of  these  invaders  in  our  midst  is  not  an 
evil  but  a  blessing,  however  much  for  the 
moment  it  may  be  disguised. 

It  is  therefore  in  no  unfriendly  spirit  that  we 
direct  our  attention  to  whit,  for  convenience' 
sake,  we  continue  to  call  the  American  invasion. 
Let  us  see,  in  the  first  place,  with  what  weapons 
these  invaders  from  the  Nov  World  are  able  to 
possess  themselves  of  markets  which  we  have 
hitherto  regarded  as  our  own.  The  first  and  by 
far  the  greatest  weapon  by  which  the  Americans 
have  made  the  economic  conciuest  of  the  Old 
World  is  in  the  supply  of  foodstuffs.  The  old 
saying  that  it  is  ill  to  look  a  gift  horse  in  the 
mouth  surely  should  be  borne  in  mind  by  those 
who  are  fed  from  day  to  day  by  the  produce  of 
American  wheatfields  and  the  slaughter-yards  of 
Chicago.  With  the  exception  of  the  Russian 
Empire  and  Hungary,  there  is  hardly  a  country 
in  Europe  which  is  capable  of  feeding  its  own 
population  with  the  products  of  its  own  fields. 
Lancashire  has  boasted  and  still  boasts  of  its 
achievement  in  clothing  the  naked,  but  man 
needs  to  fill  his  stomach  even  before  he  covers 
his  body,  and  the  feedmg  of  the  hungry  takes 
precedence  as  an  act  of  charity  of  the  clothing 
of  the  naked.  The  ingenuity  of  American 
mechanism,  and  the  skill  of  American  engineers, 
have  been  employed  for  a  generation  past  in 
reducing  the  bread-bill  of  the  British  working 
man.  Incidentally  this  has  brought  in  its  wake 
agricultural  depression  among  a  minority  of  our 
people,  but  the  immense  majority  have  fed  and 
grown  fat  upon  American  harvests  and  the  beef 
and  pork  of  American  farms.  If  it  is  an  evil 
thuig  to  have  cheap  bread,  then  the  Americans 
were  undoubtedly  doing  us  an  injury.  If,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  very  existence  of  our 
manufactures   and    our   capacity   to   command 


the  markets  of  the  world  depends  absolutely 
upon  cheap  food,  then  the  Americans  have 
been  of  all  people  our  greatest  benefactors. 
Imagine,  for  instance,  if  some  great  sp>ecu- 
lator  were  able  to  effect  such  a  corner  in 
Americ.in  foodstuffs  as  to  absolutely  forbid  the 
importation  of  a  single  carcase  or  a  single 
cargo  of  grain,  where  should  we  be  ?  We 
should  be  face  to  face  with  fiimine,  and  the 
whole  forty  millions  of  us  would  be  alternately 
filling  the  air  with  execrations  against  the 
speculator  who  had  cut  off  our  supj)ly  of  food 
from  the  United  States,  or  imploring  him  for 
the  love  of  God  to  relax  his  interdict,  and  allow 
our  people  once  more  to  profit  by  drawing  sup- 
plies from  the  American  store.  It  may  be 
replied  that  if  American  supplies  were  cut  off, 
there  would  be  a  great  revival  of  agricultural 
prosperity  in  this  country  ;  but  if  the  price  of 
the  quartern  loaf  were  doubled  and  quadrupled, 
we  should  not  be  able  to  supi)ly  sufficient  food 
to  feed  our  y>opulation.  We  are  absolutely 
spoon-fed  from  day  to  day  by  the  Americans. 

Possibly,  in  time  to  come,  from  India,  from 
Australia,  and  from  Canada,  we  may  hope  to 
render  ourselves  independent  of  American  pro- 
duce ;  but  that  would  be  no  benefit  to  the 
British  farmer,  and  we  should  have  to  wait 
many  a  year  before  we  could  secure  from  our 
fellow-subjects  the  supplies  which  we  need  from 
day  to  day. 

After  food,  the  second  great  article  by  which 
the  Americans  have  invaded  our  markets  is  raw 
material,  notably  cotton.  It  is  not  yet  forty 
years  since  Lancashire  was  reduced  to  the  verge 
of  starvation  by  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War 
in  America,  which  deprived  it  of  the  raw 
material  of  its  stable  industry.  There  we  hail 
actual  experience  of  the  stoppage  of  American 
supplies,  an  experience  the  like  of  which  no  one 
who  lived  through  the  Lancashire  cotton  flimine 
wishes  to  repeat. 

If  we  eliminate  all  food-products  and  all  raw 
materials  from  American  exports,  we  have 
accounted  for  a  bulk  sufficient,  and  more  than 
sufficient,  to  pay  for  all  our  exports  to  the 
United  States.  The  cry  of  alarm  which  has 
been  raised  has  been  produced  by  neither  of  the 
two  great  staples  of  American  exports,  but  by 
the  appearance  among  us  of  American  manu- 
factured goods.  But  even  here  a  very  large 
proportion  of  the  American  goods  are  such  as 
we  are  either  unable,  or  have  not  yet  equipped 
ourselves  sufficiently  to  provide.  The  Ameri- 
cans have  brought  to  us  a  host  of  ingenious 
inventions  and  admirably  perfected  machines 
which  we  are  incapable  of  producing  for  our- 
selves. No  one  can  say  that  in  sending  us  the 
typewriter,  the  sewing-machine,  the  Linotype, 
the  automobile,  the  phonograph,  the  telephone. 


This  is  the  rem.  Gainsborough  J.  P.  Morgajj 

HAS   ACQUIRED. 


THE  NEW    ATLAS. 

.\tlas. — "  Well,  that  takes  a  load  oflf  my 'shoulders,  and  how  easilj- 
he  seems  to  handle  it." 


HIS  H.^NDS  FULL.  ALL"  THE  WORLDS  AWHEEL, 

And  J.  PiERi'ONT  Morgan  is  the  Wheelman*. 
Ti-:e  OcTorus. — "  Guess  I'll  have  to  grow  some  more  arms." 

[From  tJte  Minneapolis  yournal 

Mr.   J.    P.   r^IORGAN— THE   GREAT  AMALGAMATOR. 


"  The  Anicricati  Invasion.'' 


^2^1 


the  elevator,  and  the  incandescent  electric  light, 
they  invaded  any  British  industry.  These  things 
were  their  inventions.  After  they  were  intro- 
duced, we  imitated  some  of  them  or  invented 
others  on  the  same  principle,  but  they  first 
opened  up  the  new  fields.  They  were  as  much 
benefactors  to  us  in  this  respect  as  the  mission- 
ary who  introduces  ploughs  to  a  savage  tribe 
which  never  used  anything  but  the  spade  and 
hoe.  That  each  and  all  these  inventions  were 
benefits  to  us  is  attested  by  the  fact  that  we 
have  bought  them  eagerly,  and  continue  to  buy 
them.  Several  of  our  manufacturers  who  have 
been  taught  by  Americans  how  to  make  these 
things,  yet  cry  out  that  they  are  being  invadeil 
and  ruined  by  American  competition^  whereas 
but  for  the  Americans  these  appliances  would 
!"iever  have  been  in  demand  in  this  country. 

It  is  not  until  we  come  to  the  fourth  category 
of  American  imports  that  we  come  upon  ground 
in  which  there  is  a  semblance  of  justification  for 
the  complaint  that  our  manufiicturcrs  or  our 
workmen  are  injured  by  American  competition. 
This  covers  the  wide  field  in  which  our  people 
have  failed  to  produce  articles  comparal)le  in 
excellence  to  those  which  the  Americans  have 
offered  us.  Conspicuous  in  this  category  are 
printing-machines,  in  which  the  American  firm 
of  Hoe  introduced  a  standard  of  excellence 
which  immeasurably  out-distances  the  machines 
with  which  our  fathers  did  their  printing.  After 
printing-machines  come  the  whole  range  of 
machinery  and  appliances  necessary  for  the  utili- 
sation of  electricity.  In  this  respect  we  have 
lagged  so  tar  behind  the  Americans  that  our 
manufacturers  simply  could  not  supply  the  appa- 
ratus necessary  for  harnessing  electricity  to  the 
service  of  modern  industry.  The  Americans 
have  done  with  electricity  what  the  British  did 
with  steam  at  the  beginning  of  the  last  century. 
We  were  the  first  to  realise  the  incalculable 
<ievelopmcnt  that  was  latent  in  the  invention  of 
Bolton  and  of  Watt.  We  got  in  ahead  of  the  rest 
of  the  world,  and  we  profited  accordingly.  All 
the  nations  came  to  us  for  steam-engines,  just  as 
we  are  going  to  the  United  States  tor  dynamos 
and  all  the  elaborate,  ingenious  and  costly 
apparatus  necessary  for  working  electric  trolleys, 
*'  Twopenny  Tubes,"  etc.  Here  no  fair-minded 
man  can  say  that  we  have  any  reason  to  com- 
plain. It  is  the  early  bird  that  catches  the 
worm,  and  if  we  did  not  wake  up  to  the  immense 
potentiality  of  electricity,  electric  motors,  electric 
power  machines,  and  electric  traction,  that  is 
our  fault,  and  we  have  no  one  to  blame  but 
ourselves.  We  want  these  things.  We  want 
them  now.  We  cannot  afford  to  wait  until  our 
neighbours  in  the  next  street  wake  up  to  a  con- 
sciousness of  the  fact  that  fortunes  are  to  be 
made   in   the   supply   of  electrical    apparatus. 


Therefore  we  go  to  our  kinsmen  across  the  sea. 
That  they  are  willing  and  ready  to  supply  us  is 
a  thing  we  should  be  grateful  for.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  as  individuals  we  are  thankful  to  them, 
the  best  j)roof  of  which  is  that  we  are  willing  to 
pay  them  millions  of  money  for  the  privilege  of 
being  supplied  with  the  machines  which  we 
want. 

As  it  is  with  the  appliances  necessary  for  the 
utilisation  of  electricity,  so  it  is  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent  with  what  may  be  described  as  tools 
of  precision  necessary  for  turning  out  the  exact 
work  needed  in  the  modern  engineering  industry. 
Fifteen  years  ago  Sir  Hiram  ^Iaxim  complained 
bitterly  to  me  of  the  fact  that  when  he  came 
over  to  this  country  to  manufacture  Maxim 
guns,  he  found  it  impossible  to  buy  in  all 
Britain  the  tools  which  he  needed.  The  old 
tools,  compared  to  what  he  needed,  were  as  the 
flint  tools  of  our  early  ancestors  to  a  steel  knife. 
The  perfect  tool  represents  an  advance  in 
civilisation.  The  clumsy  and  ineffective  tool 
is  a  mark  of  barbarism.  Savages  no  doubt 
object  to  be  civilised,  but  it  is  not  for  us 
to  complain  that  we  have  been,  however 
reluctantly,  forced  first  to  use  and  then  to 
manufacure  the  more  effective  tools,  which 
were  first  brought  into  use  by  our  American 
kinsmen. 

A  very  interesting  little  book  by  Mr.  Fred 
Mackenzie  has  been  published  recently  by 
Mr.  H.  W.  Bell.  It  consists  of  a  reprint  of  a 
series  of  articles  which  originally  aj^peared  in 
the  columns  of  the  Daily  Mail.  Mr.  Mackenzie 
is  one  of  the  rising  younger  pressmen  of 
1-ondon,  and  his  little  book  deserves  the  atten- 
tive perusal  of  all  persons  interested  in  this 
subject.  Mr.  Mackenzie  writes  a  bright  and 
lively  style,  but  when  you  examine  his  book 
you  will  find  that  most  of  the  triumphs  of  which 
the  American  invaders  have  to  boast  are  in 
fields  which  we  have  left  them  free  to  occupy. 

Typewriters,  he  tells  us,  are  imported  from 
New  York  at  an  average  value  of  ^200,000  a 
year.  The  British  Government  had  to  buy 
their  telephones  for  London  from  the  Western 
Electric  Company  of  Chicago.  In  electric 
traction  half  of  the  motors  on  British  street  cars 
are  American.  The  Central  Railway  Company 
was  equipped  by  the  New  York  (General 
Electric  Company,  and  another  New  York  firrri 
boasts  that  they,  have  supplied  eleven  of  the 
leading  street  electric  tramlines  in  (Ireat  Britain. 
The  new  West  London  lines  and  two  dozen 
others  are  supplied  with  a  street  cnr  equipment 
from  New  York. 

The  Ivastman  Kodak  Company  imports 
^200,000  worth  of  American  photographic 
apparatus  every  year.  A  similar  amount  of 
money  is  spent  e\ery  year  in  the  purchase  of 


138 


The  Aviericanisation  of  the   World. 


American  sewing  machines.  The  sale  of 
American  drugs  in  Great  Britain  amounts  to 
very  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  million  a  year.  The 
Americans  are  importing  soda-water  fountains, 
blouses  for  women,  carpet-sweepers,  darning  ma- 
chines, patching  up  apparatus,  and  all  manner 
of  similar  inventions  which  we  had  not  even  the 
sense  to  desire  nor  the  ingenuity  to  produce 
upon  the  market  Our  purchase  of  American 
pumps  and  pumping-machines,  American  pipes 
and  fittings,  represents  between  ;,r3oo,ooo  and 
^400,000  a  year. 

The  American  machine  tool,  Mr.  Mackenzie 
says,  is  triumphant  everywhere.  Fifty  American 
annealing  furnaces  are  in  use  at  Woolwich 
Arsenal,  and  in  Sheffield  the  makers  are  using 
an  American  apparatus.  The  most  effective 
passage  in  Mr.  Mackenzie's  book  is  the 
following : — 

"  In  the  domestic  life  we  have  got  to  this : 
The  average  man  rises  in  the  morning  from  his 
New  England  sheets,  he  shaves  with  'Williams' ' 
soap  and  a  Yankee  safety  razor,  pulls  on  his 
Boston  boots  over  his  socks  from  North 
Carolina,  fastens  his  Connecticut  braces,  slips 
his  Waltham  or  Waterbury  Avatch  in  his  pocket, 
and  sits  down  to  breakfast.  There  he  con- 
gratulates his  wife  on  the  way  her  Illinois 
straight-front  corset  sets  off  her  Massachusetts 
blouse,  and  he  tackles  his  breakfast,  where  he 
eats  bread  made  from  prairie  flour  (possibly 
doctored  at  the  special  establishrhents  on  the 
lakes),  tinned  oysters  from  Baltimore,  and  a 
little  Kansas  city  bacon,  while  his  wife  plays 
with  a  slice  of  Chicago  ox-tongue.  The 
children  are  given  '  Quaker '  oats.  At  the 
same  time  he  reads  his  morning  paper  printed 
by  American  machines,  on  American  p^^per, 
with  American  ink,  and,  possibly,  edited  by  a 
smart  journalist  from  New  York  city. 

"He  rushes  out,  catches  the  electric  tram 
(New  York)  to  Shepherd's  Bush,  where  he 
gets  in  a  Yankee  elevator  to  take  him  on  to 
the  American-fitted  electric  railway  to  the  City. 

"  At  his  office,  of  course,  everything  is  Ameri- 
can. He  sits  on  a  Nebraskan  swivel  chair, 
before  a  Michigan  roll-top  desk,  writes  his 
letters  on  a  Syracuse  typewriter,  signing  them 
with  a  New  York  fountain  pen,  and  drying 
them  with  a  blotting-sheet  from  New  England. 
The  letter  copies  are  put  away  in  files  manu- 
factured in  Grand  Rapids. 

"  At  lunch-time  he  hastily  swallows  some  cold 
roast  beef  that  comes  from  the  Mid-West  cow, 
and  flavours  it  with  Pittsburg  pickles,  followed 
by  a  few  Delaware  tinned  peaches,  and  then 
soothes  his  mind  with  a  couple  of  Virginia 
cigarettes. 

"  To  follow  his  course  all  day  would  be  weari- 
some.     But    when    evening    comes   he   seeks 


relaxation  at  the  latest  American  musical 
comedy,  drinks  a  cocktail  or  some  Califomian 
wine,  and  finishes  up  with  a  couple  of  *  little 
liver  pills '  '  made  in  America.' " 

What  will  be  the  ultimate  destiny  of  Great 
Britain  from  an  economic  point  of  view?  It 
depends  upon  the  Britons.  Mr.  Carnegie  is  of 
a  different  opinion.  He  thinks  it  depends  upon 
the  mineral  resources  of  the  countiy.  Three 
years  ago  he  laid  it  down  as  an  axiom  that  •'  raw 
materials  have  now  power  to  attract  capital,  and 
also  to  attract  and  develop  labour  for  their 
manufacture  in  close  proximity,  and  that  skilled 
labour  is  losing  the  power  it  once  had  to  attract 
raw  materials  to  it  from  afar." 

If  this'be  an  axiom,  then  our  cotton  mills  will 
migrate  from  Lancashire  to  the  Southern  States 
of  America.  The  iron  trade  of  the  world  will 
be  localised  at  Pittsburg.  Mr.  Carnegie,  who 
is  a  philosopher  in  his  way,  maintains  that  no 
nation  in  future  will  be  able  permanently  to 
maintain  a  greater  population  than  it  can  feed 
and  support  with  its  own  products. 

'*  The  destiny  of  the  old  country  seems  to  me 
very  plain.  You  will  be  the  family  seat  of  the 
race.  Your  manufactures  will  go  one  after  the 
other,  but  you  will  become  more  and  more 
popular  as  the  garden  and  pleasure-ground  of 
the  race,  which  will  always  regard  Great  Britain 
as  its  ancestral  home.  Probably  you  will  be 
able  to  support  15,000,000,  not  more." 

It  is  well  to  cultivate  a  healthy  scepticism 
concerning  all  such  predictions.  So  far  as  we 
can  see  from  the  trend  of  events  at  the  present 
moment,  the  producing  power  of  Great  Britain 
is  likely  to  undergo  an  immense  increase, 
because  Great  Britain  is  beginning  to  be  ener- 
gised by  the  electric  current  of  American  ideas 
and  American  methods.  I^ord  Rosebery  recently 
said  : — 

"  In  these  days  we  need  to  be  inoculated 
with  seme  of  the  nervous  energy  of  Americans. 
That  is  true  of  individuals,  admittedly  true,  but 
is  it  not  also  true  of  the  nation  ?  " 

He  uttered  a  truth  which  is  even  now 
being  largely  acted  upon.  For  the  last  twelve 
months  there  has  been  a  constant  pilgrimage 
across  the  Atiantic  from  the  old  country,  in 
which  our  manufacturers,  our  railway  managers, 
our  ship  builders,  our  iron-makers,  our  merchant 
princes,  have  been  wending  their  way  to  the 
United  States  for  the  purpose  of  learning  the 
secret  by  which  the  Americans  are  beginning  to 
beat  us  in  our  own  market.  The  British  race  is 
a  tough  race,  and  it  has  long  been  a  national 
boast  that  the  Englishman  never  knows  when 
he  is  beaten. 

But  that  is  not  the  only  encouraging  sign. 
Here  and  there  all  over  the  country  we  can  see 
British  firms  adopting  American  methods,  and 


TJie  American  Invasion'' 


139 


beating  the  Americans  at  their  own  game.  In 
the  supply  of  electrical  apparatus,  a  British  firm 
in  the  north  of  England,  which  has  frankly 
recognised  the  conditions  of  modern  industry, 
has  imported  American  managers,  American 
machinery,  and  American  methods,  and  is 
already  beginning  successfully  to  compete  with 
the  American  companies  for  the  supply  of  all 
manner  of  electrical  apj)liances. 

What  che  Preston  Electric  Company  have  done 
others  are  doing.  The  attempt  ot  the  Americans 
to  rush  the  cycle  trade  proved  the  liritish  bicycle 
more  than  capable  of  holding  its  own  against 
the  American  cycle.  The  American  watch  for 
a  time  swept  everything  before  it.  The  English, 
at  any  rate,  have  shown  that  they  are  capable 
of  holding  their  own.  They  are  laying  down 
plant  in  London  for  the  making  and  supplying 
of  office  furniture  which  will  compete  with  the 
best  American.  Depend  upon  it  that  John 
Bull  is  not  going  to  take  his  beating  lying 
ilown,  but  the  enterprise  of  English  firms 
will  hardly  be  able  to  cope  with  the  increasing 
numbers  of  Americans  who  arc  crossing  the 
Atlantic  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  them- 
selves in  business  here.  The  most  conspicuous 
illustration  of  this  moving  of  American  capital 
back  to  the  old  home  of  the  race  is  the  West- 
inghouse  Company's  works  near  Manchester, 
directed  by  American  managers,  and  managed 
on  American  principles.  With  these  Americans 
who  settle  in  our  midst  the  old  country 
will  become  the  new  home  of  the  American 
<o!onists. 

One  American  institution,  the  New  York 
Mutual  Life  Insurance,  occupies  a  most  palatial 
pile  of  buildings  in  the  city  of  London,  and  its 
manager,  an  American  born,  is  more  British 
than  a  Britisher. 

The  American  soda-water  fountain  is  now 
manufactured  in  the  city  of  London.  Before 
long  we  shall  see  established  in  our  midst 
American  hotels,  and  already  at  the  corner 
of  Wellington  Street  and  the  Strand,  on  the 
site  occupied  by  the  Morninf^  Post  office  and 
the  old  Gaiety  Tlieatre,  a  building  is  being 
erected  which,  according  to  its  promoters,  will 
be  the  largest  building  to  be  used  as  an  office 
in  the  world.  Before  long,  Siegel,  Cooper  &  Co. 
and  Mr.  Wanamaker  will  be  setting  up  their 
huge  stores  in  our  midst.  Mr.  Yerkes  is 
preparing  to  electrify  the  Underground,  and 
revolutionise  the  whole  of  our  street  railways. 
Mr.  Milholland  and  Mr.  Batchelar  are  im- 
patiently waiting  for  jiermission  to  lay  down 
pneumatic  tubes  all  over  London  by  which  all 
parcels  will  be  shot  underground  from  one  end 
of  London  to  the  other.  John  Bull  will 
have  to  smarten  up  ;  there  will  be  a  difficult 
(juarter  of  an  hour  for  the  old  gentleman,  but 


the  results  will  probably  astonish  no  one  so 
much  as  those  Americans  who  have  been  calmly 
selling  the  lion's  skin  before  the  lion  was  dead. 


Chaitkr  VI IL — Railways,  Shipping  ani> 
Trusts. 

Althou(;h  there  are  200,000  miles  of  railway 
in  the  United  States  alone,  the  railway  itself  is 
but  a  thing  of  yesterday.  A  curious  reminder  of 
this  was  afforded  us  this  year  by  the  unearthing 
in  Iowa  by  some  enterprising  pressman  of  the 
very  man  who  drove  Stephenson's  "  Rocket "  on 
the  eventful  day  when  on  the  opening  of  the  Liver- 
pool and  Manchester  railway  the  train  knocked 
down  and  killed  Mr.  Huskisson.  Edward 
Entwhistle  was  a  Lancashire  lad  of  eighteen 
when  George  Stephenson  took  him  out  of  the 
engine-shop  and  put  him  at  the  throttle  of  the 
"  Rocket "  on  the  opening  day.  He  is  now  a  man 
of  eighty-six.  After  acting  as  engine-driver  on 
the  Liverpool  and  Manchester  for  over  two 
years,  he  emigrated  to  America  in  1837,  where 
he  took  up  the  trade  of  stationary  engineer.  He 
is  still  in  good  health  and  sufficiently  alert  to 
be  capable  of  giving  occasional  addresses  on 
his  reminiscences  of  Stephenson,  in  which, 
judging  from  the  newspaper  reports,  Mr.  Hus- 
kisson reappears  as  Lord  Erskinson,  so  that  the 
span  of  a  single  life  easily  covers  the  whole  of 
the  railway  era. 

It  may  be  regarded  as  symbolic  that  the  first 
engine-driver  should  so  soon  have  emigrated  to 
the  United  States,  as  if  divining  by  some  secret 
unconscious  instinct  that  it  was  there  where  the 
genius  of  Stephenson  would  bear  its  richest 
fruits.  By  every  test,  whether  quantitative  or 
iiualitative,  the  American  stands  out  facih- 
princeps  in  all  things  connected  with  the  rail- 
way. To  begin  with,  he  has  built  nearly  half  the 
railways  in  the  world.  Not  only  has  he  spanned 
his  own  continent  with  a  perfect  gridiron  of 
metalled  way,  but  he  is  now  carrying  off  con- 
tracts for  the  bridge  work,  which,  with  the 
exception  of  tunnelling,  constitutes  the  most 
difficult  and  delicate  of  all  the  operations  of 
railway  structure.  But  it  was  only  yesterday 
that  their  pre-eminence  as  bridge  builders 
dawned  upon  the  British  public,  which  has  evei> 
yet  hardly  recovered  from  the  shock  of  dis- 
covering that  all  the  Queen's  horses  and  all  the 
Queen's  men  were  incapable  of  conquering  the 
Soudan  without  resorting  to  the  humiliating 
necessity  of  accepting  an  American  tender  for 
the  building  of  a  bridge  across  the  Atbara. 
The  British  could  have  built  it  themselves,  no 
doubt,  but  they  could  not  do  the  work  up  to 
time.     Few  incidents  caused  more  chagrin,  and 


140 


The  Americanisation  of  the   World. 


the  most  conclusive  explanations  were  speedily 
forthcoming  to  prove  how  easily  the  British 
builders  could  have  done  the  task  if  they  had 
only  had  a  reasonable  notice  and  been  treated 
with  reasonable  fairness. 

These  explanations,  apparently  conclusive, 
temporarily  allayed  John  Bull's  ill-humour,  but 
it  was  only  for  a  time.  Last  autumn  the  Ameri- 
can Bridge  Company  carried  off  contracts  for 
constructing  no  fewer  than  twenty-eight  bridges 
and  viaducts  required  to  complete  the  Uganda 
Railway.  The  work  is  now  in  active  progress, 
and  the  bridges  are  in  process  of  shipment  across 
the  Atlantic  for  Uganda,  one  of  the  territories 
which  was  occupied  for  the  express  purpose  of 
developing  British  trade  in  South  Africa.  Money 
is  being  poured  out  like  water  in  order  to  secure 
this  market  for  British  manufactured  goods,  and 
lo !  the  American  steps  in  and  carries  off  the 
contracts  for  building  these  bridges  without 
having  incurred  a  permy  of  expense  or  an  atom 
of  responsibility  in  opening  up  the  countr)'. 

The  same  thing  is  occurring  in  other  parts  of 
the  world.  The  Americans  have  just  built  the 
largest  bridge  in  the  world  over  the  Goktein  in 
Upper  Burma.  And  as  it  is  with  bridges,  so 
it  promises  to  be  with  rails,  Mr.  Rhodes  ex- 
perienced a  cruel  shock  when  in  opening  tenders 
for  the  construction  of  the  southern  end  of  his 
Cape  to  Cairo  Railway,  he  discovered  that  Mr. 
Carnegie  was  able  to  deliver  steel  rails  in  South 
Africa  at  a  lower  price  than  any  English  manu- 
facturer. The  patriotic  pride  of  the  South 
African  Colossus  prompted  him  to  take  advan- 
tage of  a  technical  flaw  in  Mr.  Carnegie's  contract 
in  order  to  accept  the  tender  of  a  British  firm  ; 
but  to  this  day  he  feels  uneasy  at  the  remem- 
brance of  the  subterfuge  to  which  he  had  to 
resort  in  order  to  keep  the  trade  in  British  hands, 
*'  It  would  have  been  too  bad,"  he  said,  some- 
what pathetically,  "to  think  of  my  Cape  to 
Cairo  line  being  made  with  American  rails  ! " 

In  war,  as  in  peace,  it  is  the  same  thing. 
While  the  Imperial  Government  was  importing 
American  mules  by  the  thousand  from  New 
Orleans  to  give  mobility  to  its  flying  columns 
at  the  seat  of  war,  the  Cape  Government  was 
placing  contracts  with  American  engineers  for 
engines  which  could  not  be  supplied  from  British 
workshops,  even  although,  as  the  Colonial  Go- 
vernment plaintively  explained,  it  gave  a  ten 
per  cent,  preference  to  British  manufactures. 
But  it  is  impossible  long  to  carry  on  business  in 
which  contracts,  like  kissing,  go  by  favour,  and 
not  to  the  best  tender;  and  such  devices  as  ten  per 
cent,  preferences  and  the  like  are  neither  more 
nor  less  than  a  confession  of  defeat.  If  British 
engineers  can  only  hold  their  own  with  a  ten  per 
cent,  adverse  handicap  against  their  American 
competitors,   the    question   is   ended,   and   the 


superiority  of  the  Yankee  is  attested  by  the  very 
terms  of  the  competition  insisted  upon  by  his 
rival. 

As  it  is  with  bridges  and  with  rails,  so  it  is 
even  more  conspicuously  with  American  loco- 
motives. They  are  not  artistic  toys,  the  giant 
engines  which  do  the  haulage  of  a  continent, 
neither  do  they  require  one  month  in  the  paint- 
shop,  as  is  said  to  be  the  case  in  our  own  Mid- 
land Railway.  But  they  are  the  strongest 
haulers  in  the  world,  and  they  go  at  the  greatest 
speed.  America  holds  the  world's  record  both 
for  speed  at  all  distances  and  for  the  weight 
of  the  trains  hauled  by  a  single  locomotive. 
Philadelphia  railway  expresses  are  constantly 
timed  to  run  at  sixty-six  miles  an  hour,  and  it  is 
nothing  unusual  for  trains  when  under  pressure 
to  dash  along  the  metal  way  at  the  rate  of  eighty 
to  eighty-four  miles  an  hour.  The  tendency  is 
ever  towards  more  and  more  powerful  engines, 
with  heavier  haulage  capacity.  The  Americans 
laugh  to  scorn  what  they  regard  as  the  toy  cars 
in  use  in  the  Old  World.  At  one  time  their 
average  freight  cars  weighed  ten  tons,  and  only 
carried  their  own  weight.  To-day  they  weigh 
fifteen  tons  and  carry  thirty,  A  single  engine 
will  grapple  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  these  cars, 
loaded  to  their  utmost  capacity,  and  make  no 
complaint  if  half  a  dozen  extra  are  hitched  on 
behind.  The  result  of  this  continual  develop- 
ment in  the  direction  of  greater  haulage  capacity 
is  that  the  freight  on  American  railways  is  about  ' 
half  what  it  is  in  this  country. 

The  United  States  at  one  time  imported  loco- 
motives from  this  country.  They  are  now 
exporting  locomotives  to  all  parts  of 'the  British 
Empire.  Recently  the  reputation  of  the  Ameri- 
can engine  has  been  somewhat  prejudiced,  first, 
by  the  inferior  quality  of  locomotives  sent  to 
Australia ;  secondly,  by  an  adverse  report  made 
by  the  Locomotive  Superintendent  of  the  Mid- 
land Railway  as  to  the  extra  working  cost  of  an 
American  engine.  He  reported  that  as  the 
result  of  a  six  months'  trial,  the  American  engine 
cost  20  to  25  per  cent,  more  for  fuel,  50  per 
cent,  more  for  oil,  and  60  per  cent,  more  for 
repairs.  This  report  was  received  with  a  chorus 
of  delight  in  English  papers ;  but,  as  was  imme- 
diately pointed  out  by  an  American  writer  in  an 
interesting  paper  published  in  the  World's  Work 
for  November,  under  the  title  of  "  The  American 
Locomotive  Abroad,"  the  Midland  Report  was 
far  from  conclusive  for  several  reasons.  First, 
the  so-called  American  engines  were  not  of  the 
pure  American  type,  but  were  modified  to  meet 
English  ideas;  secondly,  the  report  gives  no 
information  as  to  the  amount  of  coal  burned, 
oil  used,  or  money  spent  in  repairs.  The 
American  locomotives  may  have  burned  25  per 
cent,  more  coal,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  they 


Railways,  Shipping  and  Trusts. 


141 


may  have  been  capable  of  hauling  50  per  cent, 
more  freight ;  and  as  for  the  repairs,  60  per 
cent,  against  the  Americans  looks  very  formid- 
able, but  if  the  total  repairs  on  either  engine  did 
not  amount  to  more  than  loj.,  a  difference  even 
of  100  per  cent,  would  mean  nothing.  All 
attempts  to  draw  information  from  the  Midland 
superintendent  on  this  point  have  failed  to  elicit 
any  facts  beyond  those  contained  in  the  report. 

It  is  a  notable  fact,  says  the  writer  of  the 
article  already  quoted,  that  the  first  American 
locomotive  ever  imported  into  England  was  built 
sixty  years  ago  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  the 
English  railway  manager  to  prove  that  it  was 
possible  to  haul  loaded  trains  up  a  steep  incline 
in  the  Birmingham-Gloucester  Railway.  Four 
engines  were  ordered  in  1840,  and  they  trium- 
phantly accomplished  their  task.  Thus,  says 
Mr.  Cunnliff,  the  author  of  "The  American 
Locomotive  Abroad,"  the  Birmingham  and 
Gloucester  line,  on  which  the  American  engines 
first  made  their  reputation,  is  now  part  of  the 
Midland,  whose  officers  have  recently  tried  to 
ruin  that  reputation.  The  engines  of  1840  and 
those  of  1900  were  both  built  in  the  same 
workshops. 

The  Baldwin  locomotive  works  of  Phila- 
delphia alone  exported  about  one  locomotive 
a  day,  year  in,  year  out.  In  1899  and  1900  they 
shipped  701  locomotives  to  the  following 
countries : — 


NORTH  AND  SOUTH  AMERICA. 


Canada 
Alaska 
Porto  Rico 
Ecuador 
ChUe 


England 
Bel);ium 
Norway 


Manchuria 
Japan 


Algeria 
Uganda 


Nova  Scotia 
Mexico 
Hawaii 
Colombia 


Newfoundland 
Costa  Rica 
Yucatan 
Peru 


EUROPE. 


Ireland 

Holland 

Sweden 


France 
Bavaria 
Finland 


British  Columbia 

Cuba 

San  Domingo 

Brazil 


Spain 

Denmark 

Russia 


ASIA  AND  AUSTRALIA. 

Siberia  India 

Burma  Assam 

AFRICA. 

Tunis  Soudan 

Cape  Colony 


China 
Victoria 


Egypt 


This  represents  the  majority  of  the  American 
trade,  for  the  other  firms  only  brought  the  total 
export  up  to  525  engines  for  one  year.  For  heavy 
hauls  on  steep  gradients  the  American  engines 
appear  to  leave  all  their  rivals  far  behind. 
There  is  said  to  be  only  one  English  locomotive 
left  in  the  United  States.  It  is  on  the  Penn- 
sylvanian  Railroad,  and  its  driver  is  said  to 
have  reported  as  follows  :  "  It's  a  good  enough 
engine  when  it  has  nothing  to  do,  but  when  it 
has  a  load  beyond  its  drawbar,  it  sits  down 
and  looks  at  you  with  tears  in  its  eyes." 

Patriotic  prejudice,  no  doubt,  impedes  for  a 
time  the  introduction  of  American  locomotives 


into  many  countries,  and  in  Russia  it  would 
seem  the  distribution  of  orders  is  often  governed 
more  by  political  than  by  commercial  con- 
siderations. Another  obstacle  against  which 
they  have  to  contend,  is  that  their  enormous 
weight  requires  the  rebuilding  of  bridges  and 
relaying  of  contracts.  Mr.  Cunnliff  tells  a  story 
that  an  English  firm,  having  received  notice 
that  the  engines  which  they  supplied  to  New 
Zealand  were  unsuited  to  the  colonial  tracks 
and  bridges,  replied :  "  Then  rebuild  your 
tracks  and  bridges,  and  we  will  furnish  you 
with  this  sort  of  locomotive  or  none."  Mr. 
Cunnliff  maintains  that  an  American  builder 
would  have  replied,  "  Expect  new  designs  by 
the  first  of  the  month."  This  is  no  doubt  true, 
but  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  American  locomotive 
builder  is  compelling  the  reconstruction  of 
tracks  and  bridges,  none  the  less  certainly 
because  he  is  less  domineering  in  relation  to 
individual  contractors.  The  American  practice 
of  standardising  all  parts  of  the  machine,  and 
of  continually  increasing  the  weight  in  order 
to  get  a  still  increased  haulage  power,  necessi- 
tates alteration  in  the  permanent  way,  for  the 
railway  in  the  long  run  has  always  to  be  built 
to  suit  the  locomotive,  not  the  locomotive  to 
suit  the  railway.  Mr.  Cunnliff  thus  lucidly 
explains  the  contrast  between  engine-building 
in  the  new  world  and  the  old :  "  An  American 
builder  builds  an  engine  to  wear  it  out. 
Scrupulous  attention  is  paid  to  all  working 
parts,  as  any  one  can  see  who  visits  a  great 
locomotive  plant.  The  mechanism  of  each 
machine  is  made  easily  accessible.  Parts  are 
interchangeable,  so  that  repairs  can  be  made 
with  speed.  No  unnecessary  paint  is  wasted. 
As  soon  as  the  machine  is  finished,  it  is  put  in 
commission  and  driven  day  and  night  with  the 
heaviest  loads  it  can  stagger  under.  It  goes 
into  the  repair  shop  only  when  it  requires 
overhauling.  Men  are  hired  to  run  it  at  good 
wages,  men  of  ability  and  intelligence,  with  a 
typically  American  personal  interest  in  their 
charge.  Under  such  methods  the  engine  is 
banged  through  a  (juarter  century  of  strenuous 
activity,  and  then  antiquated,  worn  out,  super- 
seded by  advanced  types,  it  goes  to  the  scrap 
heap.     The  result  is  profit. 

•'  In  England — and  in  France,  for  that  matter 
— an  engine  is  built  to  last.  Twenty  years 
after  it  has  been  superseded  by  newer  and 
better  types,  a  locomotive  is  as  tenderly  cared 
for  as  ever.    The  result  is  decreasing  dividends." 

Of  course  if,  as  Mr.  Cunnliff  asserts,  Ameri- 
cans can  deliver  engines  in  Japan  at  ^2000, 
which  do  better  work  than  English  engines 
which  cost  ;^3oco,  it  is  out  of  the  question  to 
talk  about  competition,  except  such  competition 
as  is  said  to  prevail  between  Lombard  Street 


142 


The  Ainericanisation  of  the   JVorld. 


and  a  China  orange.  The  moral  of  it  all  is 
in  this,  as  in  everything  else,  that  the  American 
success  has  been  obtained  by  skilled  workman- 
ship and  businesslike  methods. 

Mr.  Chauncey  M.  Depew  in  his  address  to 
railway  men  at  Buffalo  Exhibition  gave  some 
very  interesting  figures  as  to  the  growth  of  the 
American  railroad.  Railway  freight  rates  in 
the  United  States  were,  he  said,  almost  exactly 
one-third  of  what  they  were  when  he  entered 
the  service  in  1866.  At  the  same  time  the 
wages  of  the  railway  men  have  nearly  doubled, 
the  precise  increase  being  87^  per  cent.  As 
there  are  more  than  a  million  of  them,  the  gain 
in  the  weekly  wage  bill  of  America  from  this 
source  alone  is  enormous.  Their  annual  pay 
bill  for  wages  is  ;^  125,000,000,  or  60  per  cent, 
of  the  cost  of  operating  the  lines.  The  United 
States  with  only  6  per  cent,  of  the  land  surface 
of  the  world  has  40  per  cent,  of  the  railroad 
track.  Its  193,000  mileage  is  six  times  that 
of  any  other  nation,  and  Mr.  Depew  declares 
that  they  haul  more  freight  every  year  than  is 
moved  by  all  the  railways  and  all  the  ships  of 
Great  Britain,  France,  and  Germany  combined. 

An  American  engine  recently  hauled  a  train 
three-fourths  of  a  mile  in  length  at  the  rate  of 
20  miles  an  hour.  The  gross  weight  behind 
the  engine  was  over  3000  tons.  Another 
engine  on  a  New  York  railway  developed  1142 
horse  power.  The  average  load  of  an  American 
freight  train  is  2000  tons,  that  of  the  English 
only  600.  The  General  Superintendent  of  the 
London  and  South  Western  Railway,  who  has 
just  returned  from  an  inspection  of  American 
lines,  reported  that  in  passenger  traffic  we  have 
little  to  learn,  but  that  we  ought  to  revolutionize 
our  goods  traffic.  He  said  :  '■  Our  freight  system 
is  wasteful.  American  goods  engines  can  haul 
two  or  three  times  as  much  weight  by  one  train 
as  we  can.  We  must  have  heavier  goods 
locomotives.  We  must  also  have  air  brakes 
on  goods  trains.  At  present  the  only  brakes  on 
our  trains  are  the  engine  brakes  and  the  brakes 
at  the  end  of  the  train.  In  consequence  of 
improved  appliances  the  American  railways  not 
only  haul  heavier  freights,  but  run  much  faster 
than  ours.  I  shall  urge  the  extension  of  the 
American  system  of  pneumatic  signalling  for 
interlocking,  which  gives  such  excellent  results 
on  American  lines." 

In  ship-building  we  are  holding  our  own. 
It  is  true  that  the  Americans  have  begun  to 
build  a  few  ships,  but  as  yet  they  have  been 
badly  beaten  in  any  attempt  to  produce  ships 
at  the  prices  at  which  they  can  be  turned  out 
on  the  Tyne,  the  Clyde,  or  at  Belfast. 

Whether  we  shall  be  able  permanently  to 
maintain  our  position  in  ship-building,  or 
victoriously  to  repel  any  further   attacks  upon 


our  iron  and  steel  manufactures,  are  questions 
for  the  answers  to  which  we  have  to  wait.  But 
there  is  certainly  no  reason  to  despair.  Our 
manufacturers  have  as  much  work  as  they  can 
get  through,  and  so  far  we  have  not  seen  any 
great  branch  of  British  industry  disorganised 
and  its  workmen  thrown  out  of  employment 
owing  to  the  advent  of  the  American  invaders. 

In  the  building  of  swift  ocean  greyhounds  we 
are  beaten  by  Germany  as  in  the  building  of 
racing  yachts  we  are  beaten  liy  America.  And 
although  we  still  can  plume  ourselves  upon  our 
ability  to  build  more  cheaply  than  any  other 
nation,  this  may  not  last.  Dr.  von  Halle,  who 
was  sent  out  by  the  German  Admiralty  to 
make  an  investigation  of  the  shipyards  of 
Europe  and  America,  reported  that  the  new 
Camden  works  in  New  Jersey  were  destined  to 
be  one  of  the  model  establishments  of  the 
world.  Dr.  von  Halle  reported  that  "  the 
shipyards  of  the  United  States  are  incomparably 
equipped  for  thorough,  economical  and  rapid 
production.  This  is  due  primarily  to  the 
splendid  transportation  arrangements  of  the 
yard  areas,  the  employment  of  the  most  im- 
proved type  of  hoisting  machinery,  and  the 
widespreacl  use  of  pneumatic  tools."  They 
would,  he  thought,  distance  in  the  near  future 
those  of  Great  Britain,  because  they  were  free 
from  the  "  tyranny  of  the  workmen." 

The  Americans,  who  have  been  carrying  all 
before  them  on  the  land,  would  have  been  false 
to  their  ancestry  if  they  did  not  hanker  after 
doiiiinion  on  the  sea.  .  Captain  Mahan,  whose 
book  on  Sea  Power  has  done  more  to  promote 
the  increase  of  the  Navy  both  in  Great  Britain 
and  in  Germany  than  any  book  that  has  ever 
been  written,  preached  his  doctrine  primarily 
for  his  own  people.  President  Roosevelt  is  an 
enthusiast  for  a  strong  Nav3^  He  does  not  say 
in  the  Kaiser's  phrase  that  America's  future  lies 
upon  the  sea,  because  he  would  scorn  to  con- 
fine America's  future  to  any  element,  even  to 
that  which  covers  three-fourths  of  the  world's 
surface.  But  although  the  Americans  have  a 
Navy  very  nearly  equal  to  that  of  Germany  they 
are  not  satisfied.  They  have  few  over-sea  pos- 
sessions to  protect,  and  despite  various  fantastic 
schemes  published  by  German  officers  as  to 
a  possible  descent  of  a  German  expeditionary 
force  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  they  know  per- 
fectly well  that  they  are  safe  from  European 
attack.  Nothing  will  satisfy  them  but  that  they 
must  have  ships  of  commerce  and  ships  of  war. 
As  to  ships  of  war  this  is  merely  a  matter  of 
expenditure,  and  as  the  embarrassment  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  to  get  rid  of  the 
surplus  which  is  unnecessarily  taken  from  the 
taxpayers  in  excess  of  the  needs  of  the  Republic, 
there  is  nothing  to   hinder  the   United    States 


Mr.    J.    PIERPOM.,  M0R<;AN. 
[From  a  pen  and  ink  sketch  by   V.  Cribityedoff. 


144 


The  Americanisation  of  the   World. 


building  up  as  big  a  Navy  as  that  of  Great 
Britain.  When  a  nation  has  a  large  mercantile 
marine  the  existence  of  so  many  tons  of  ship- 
ping is  regarded  as  an  unanswerable  argument 
in  favour  of  building  ironclads  to  protect  its 
shipping.  In  the  United  States  they  have  no 
shipping  to  protect,  so  they  build  a  fleet  first, 
and  then  say  they  must  create  a  mercantile 
marine  in  order  to  keep  the  building-yards 
busy,  and  in  order  to  rear  sailors  to  man  their 
fighting  Navy. 

It  was  this  aspiration  after  ships  which  led 
Mr.  J.  P.  Morgan  to  make  the  famous  purchase 
of  the  Leyland  line  of  steamers,  which  may 
be  regarded  as  the  first  note  of  the  tocsin 
which  has  been  ringing  in  our  ears  ever  since. 
It  is  not  twelve  months  since  Britain  was 
startled  by  the  news  that  Mr.  Morgan,  on 
behalf  of  an  American  combination,  had  bought 
up  the  entire  fleet  of  Leyland  steamers  on 
terms  which  were  much  better  than  the  share- 
holders could  have  obtained  from  any  other 
purchaser.  The  suddenness  with  which  the 
deal  was  effected,  and  the  fact  that  Mr.  Morgan 
was  not  an  Englishman,  and  that  the  Leyland 
ships  Avere  bought  on  an  American  account, 
struck  the  imagination  of  the  whole  English- 
speaking  race.  British  shipowners  took  the 
matter  more  coolly  than  the  British  public,  for 
British  shipowners  in  dealing  with  their  ships 
are  very  much  like  the  American  engineers  in 
handling  their  engines.  Just  as  an  American  is 
always  anxious  to  work  his  engine  out  so  that 
he  may  get  a  new  one  with  the  latest  improve- 
ments, so  the  British  shipbuilder  has  never 
any  objection  to  sell  an  old  ship  in  order  to 
raise  funds  with  which  to  build  a  new  one. 
The  Chairman  of  the  Peninsular  and  Oriental 
Shipping  Company  was  far  from  holding  up  his 
hands  in  holy  horror  at  the  Leyland  deal,  but 
declared  that  he  would  be  very  glad  to  sell  the 
whole  fleet  of  the  P.  and  O.  if  terms  equally 
good  were  offered  him  by  the  Americans  or 
any  one  else.  To  get  new  ships  for  old  has 
never  been  regarded  as  bad  policy  by  our  ship- 
owners. It  is  possible  that  they  may  carry 
things  a  little  too  far,  as,  for  instance,  when  two 
British  lines  of  steamers  trading  in  the  Far  East 
were  sold  to  the  Germans  with  the  result  that 
the  British  flag  practically  disappeared  from 
Bangkok,  Borneo,  and  other  regions. 

The  significance  of  the  incident  arose  from 
the  fact  that  it  indicated  a  determination  on  the 
part  of  the  Americans  to  acquire  a  ready-made 
fleet,  from  which  we  may  draw  the  conclusion 
that  they  were  so  eager  to  create  a  mercantile 
marine  that  they  were  willing  to  take  second- 
hand goods  rather  than  wait  until  new  ships 
could  be  bought. 

Mr.  Gage,  in  the  Report  which  he  presented 


to  Congress  at  the  beginning  of  last  Session, 
pointed  out  that  only  8 '  2  per  cent,  of  American 
exports  and  imports  were  carried  in  American 
ships.  This  jjercentage,  says  Mr.  Gage,  "  is  the 
smallest  in  our  history.  Our  position  on  the 
sea,  except  as  a  naval  power,  is  insignificant. 
The  Americans  have  only  one  line  of  steamers 
crossing  the  Atlantic  to  Europe,  two  lines  of 
seven  steamers  crossing  the  Pacific  to  Asia,  and 
one  line  of  three  steamers  to  Australia.  South 
of  the  Caribbean  Sea  and  the  Isthmus  there  is 
no  regular  communication  by  American  steamers 
with  either  coast  of  South  America.  This  state 
of  things  appears  deplorable  to  the  nation  which 
produces  more  materials  for  ship-building  than 
any  other,  and  whose  artisans  are  quite  compe- 
tent to  construct  the  best  ships  that  have  ever 
crossed  the  waves.  We  build  few  ships  for 
foreign  trade,"  says  Mr.  Gage.  "  It  is  desirable 
that  we  should  build  many.  We  have  very  few 
ships  under  the  flag  in  foreign  trade.  It  is 
desirable  that  we  should  have  many."  Therefore 
he  recommends  as  a  temporary  expedient  that 
navigation  bounties  should  be  established  in 
order  to  overcome  the  obstacle  created  by  the 
fact  that  Great  Britain  can  build  her  ships 
cheaper  and  man  them  more  economically  than 
Americans. 

As  the  Republican  party  is  split  upon  the 
question  of  ship-building  bounties,  it  is  difficult 
for  outsiders  to  estimate  what  chance  there  is  of 
the  acceptance  of  Mr.  Gage's  proposal. 

The  thorny  and  much  debated  question  of 
trusts  was  raised  in  this  country  in  an  active 
shape  by  the  action  of  Mr.  Morgan.  At  first 
the  spectacle  of  the  BiUion  Dollar  Trust  dis- 
turbed the  equanimity  of  the  British  public. 
But  after  a  time  people  began  to  remember  that 
the  two  most  conspicuous  figures  in  British 
Imperialism  both  acquired  the  fortunes  which 
rendered  it  possible  for  them  to  become  politic- 
ally influential  by  means  of  trusts.  The  De 
Beers  Company  is  one  of  the  most  gigantic 
amalgamations  in  the  world.  One  by  one  the 
competing  interests  of  the  diamond-mine  owners 
in  South  Africa  were  bought  up  or  acquired, 
until  at  last  Mr.  Rhodes  and  his  fellow  directors 
had  an  absolute  monopoly  of  the  diamond 
industry  of  South  Africa.  Mr.  Rhodes  was  the 
precursor  of  Mr.  Morgan.  For  the  Rockefeller 
of  Britain  we  look  nearer  home.  No  one  has 
made  any  complaint  of  the  legitimacy  of  the 
methods  adopted  by  Mr.  Morgan  or  Mr.  Rhodes 
in  the  buying  up  of  the  competing  interests.  It 
is  far  otherwise  with  the  methods  adopted  by 
Mr.  Rockefeller,  when  he  built  up  the  gigantic 
monopoly  which  is  known  as  the  Standard  Oil 
Trust  of  the  United  States.  No  small  portion 
of  the  odium  which  exists  in  this  country  against 
the  American  trusts  in  any  shape  or  form  is  due 


Railways,  Shipping  and  Trusts. 


Hi 


Q  "^  ne  influence  of  Mr.  Lloyd's  book,  '*  Wealth 
"^  ^(^  linst  Commonwealth,"  in  which  the  whole  of 
\;>  e  process  of  building  up  a  gigantic  monopoly 
\'s  described  with  merciless  lucidity.  The 
spectacle  is  not  a  pleasing  one.  We  have 
fortunately  nothing  in  the  annals  of  our  trade 
that  can  be  compared  to  this  extraordinary 
conspiracy  of  capital  to  crush  out  competition 
by  the  use  of  every  method,  fair  or  unfair,  which 
did  not  land  the  conspirators  within  the  grip  of 
the  criminal  law.  But  the  art  of  building  up  a 
great  property  by  crushing  out  competition, 
without  departing  one  hair's-breadth  from  the 
line  of  strict  legality,  was  one  in  which  Mr. 
Chamberlain  was  a  past  master  who  had  no 
need  to  go  to  school  beyond  the  Atlantic 

Upon  trusts,  as  upon  every  other  economic 
question,  there  is  a  great  difference  of  opinion. 
The  late  Governor  Pingree  of  Michigan  saw  in 
the  trust  a  kind  of  anti-Christ  whose  advent  in 
these  latter  times  darkened  the  horizon  of  the 
Republic.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  a 
tendency  in  many  quarters  to  regard  the  trust 
as  a  practical  and  by  no  means  illegitimate 
application  of  the  principle  of  the  elimination  of 
wasteful  expense  and  the  cheapening  of  goods 
for  the  general  consumer.  After  considerable 
dubitation.  President  Roosevelt  seems  to  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  better  to  take 
the  optimist  view  of  the  trust,  and  in  his 
inaugural  address  he  confines  himself  to  a 
suggestion  that  it  would  be  well  to  turn  the  bull's- 
eye  of  publicity  upon  the  trust,  and  to  insist  upon 
due  investigation  of  all  its  financial  methods. 
This  is  probably  as  far  as  any  President  of  the 
United  States  could  go  at  present. 

Of  the  future  of  Trusts  there  is  much  specula- 
tion. Some,  among  whom  is  Sir  Christopher 
Furness,  M.P.,  who  has  just  returned  from  a  long 
tour  of  inspection  in  the  United  States,  think 
that  they  will  pass  with  the  impending  adoption 
of  Free  Frade.  It  is,  however,  by  no  means  a 
self-evident  proposition  that  the  American  Trust 
system  will  not  survive  Free  Trade.  It  may 
even  be  the  instrument  for  bringing  in  Free 
Trade.  To  the  ordinary  observer  it  seems 
much  more  probable  that  the  Trust  will  spread 
to  the  United  Kingdom  than  that  it  will  disap- 
pear from  the  United  States. 

There  is  no  doubt,  of  course,  that  the  Tariff 
and  the  Trusts  play  into  each  other's  hands  for 
the  purpose  of  picking  the  pocket  of  the  Ameri- 
can consumer.  The  IndustHal  Commission, 
which  has  just  concluded  its  inquiry  into  the 
whole  question,  found  from  the  replies  received 
from  over  one  hundred  manufacturers  that 
American  manufactures  are  often  sold  at  lower 
prices  abroad  than  in  the  United  States.  The 
home  market  being  secured  by  the  exclusion  of 
foreign  goods,   the  unfortunate  American  con- 


sumer pays  through  the  nose  in  order  that  the 
American  producer  may  supply  the  foreigner  at 
cut  rates.  To  sell  the  foreigner  the  best  Ameri- 
can goods  25  per  cent,  below  the  prices  charged 
to  Americans  may  be  very  good  for  the  foreigner, 
but  it  can  hardly  be  regarded  as  good  American- 
ism. Perhaps  it  may  be  accepted  as  an  illegiti- 
mate kind  of  compensation  awarded  to  the 
foreigner  for  the  penalties  inflicted  upon  his 
goods  by  the  Tariff. 

How  to  cope  with  the  abuses  of  Trusts  *  is  a 
subject  which  President  Roosevelt  has  fre- 
quently discussed.  His  message  to  the  New 
York  Legislature  in  January,  igoo,  when  he 
was  Governor  of  New  York,  should  be  read  in 
connection  with  his  reference  to  the  subject  in 
his  inaugural  already  quoted.  Speaking  as 
Governor  of  New  York,  he  said  : — 

The  chief  abuses  alleged  to  arise  from  Trusts 
are  probably  the  following  :  Misrepresentation 
or  concealment  regarding  material  facts  con- 
nected with  the  organisation  of  an  enterprise  : 
the  evils  connected  with  unscrupulous  promo- 
tion ;  overcapitalisation ;  unfair  competition 
resulting  in  crushing  out  of  competitors  who 
themselves  do  not  act  improperly ;  raising  of 
prices  above  fair  competitive  rates ;  the  wielding 
of  increased  power  over  the  wage  earners. 

We  should  know  authoritatively  whether 
stock  represents  the  actual  value  of  plants,  or 
whether  it  represents  brands  of  good  will ;  or, 
if  not,  what  it  does  represent,  if  anything.  It  is 
desirable  to  know  how  much  was  actually 
bought,  how  much  was  issued  free,  and  to 
whom,  and,  if  possible,  for  what  reason. 

But  supposing  that  the  result  of  turning  the 
bull's-eye  of  publicity  upon  the  Trust  and  sub- 
jecting its  method  to  the  microscope  of  govern- 
mental quasi-judicial  investigation  were  to  reveal 
a  clotted  mass  of  force  and  fraud,  upon  which 
some  of  the  greater  Trusts  are  said  to  have  been 
founded,  what  then?  There  are  those  who 
imagine  that  in  such  circumstances,  or,  in  the 
case  of  any  exceptionally  high-handed  abuse  of 
power  by  the  Trusts,  the  Federal  Government 
would  step  in  and  exercise  the  reserved  right  of 
every  community  to  save  itself  from  the  loss  of 
its  liberties,  by  nationalising  the  Trust.  This  is 
.easier  said  than  done ;  but  the  hope  is  so 
strong  among  many  who  are  most  opposed  to 
the  methods  of  American  Capitalism,  that  they 
refuse  to  make  any  protest,  or  to  interfere  in 
any  way  with  the  legitimate  evolution  of  econ- 
omic forces  which  underlie  American  civilisa- 
tion. It  is  better,  they  say,  that  their  enemies 
should  have  one  neck,  for  decapitation  will  be 
much  easier  than  if  they  had  a  thousand. 

•  See  on  this  subject  a  book,  "  The  Control  of 
Tjusts,"  by  Professor  J.  B.  Clark,  of  Columbia 
University. 

L 


146 


The  Arnericamsation  of  the   World. 


If  Mr.  Morgan's  foray  for  the  purpose  of 
buying  the  Leyland  steamers  was  our  first 
warning  as  to  the  new  factor  in  international 
competitive  trade,  the  invasion  of  the  Tobacco 
Trust  was  the  second,  and  one  which  excited 
mu(  li  more  interest  among  the  mass  of  the 
people.  For  comparatively  few  were  aft'ected 
by  the  transfer  of  the  Leyland  line.  Nearly 
every  other  man  in  the  United  Kingdom  was 
affected  by  the  entry  of  the  American  Tobacco 
Trust  into  the  British  field.  They  began,  as 
usual,  by  attempting  to  purchase  the  biggest 
firms  in  the  British  tobacco  trade.  Failing  with 
the  biggest,  as  Mr.  Astor  failed  with  the  Times, 
they  descended  upon  the  second  best,  and  as  he 
bought  the  Fall  Mall  Gazette,  so  they  bought 
Ogden's.  The  alternative  offer  to  the  share- 
holders was  very  simple.  Their  property  was 
worth  at  market  quotations  ;^638,ooo.  The 
trust  offered  to  buy  them  out,  paying  for  the 
property  ;,^8i8,ooo  or  ;^i8o,ooo  above  the 
market  price.  That  was  the  offer  to  accept  or 
to  refuf^e.  If  they  accepted  it,  every  share- 
holder would  enjoy  a  sudden  and  immediate 
increase  of  his  capital,  which  he  was  perfectly 
free,  if  so  minded,  to  invest  in  establishing  a 
new  tobacco  business,  and  take  advantage  of 
the  latest  improvements,  mechanical  or  other- 
wise.    If,  on  the  otlier  hand,  they  elected  to 


fight,  the  immediate  result  would  have  be^>n,      ^ 
tumble   in    the   value    of    their   shares   ancn 
diminution  in  their  dividend,  while  they  woui    > 
probably  be  forced  to  sell  in  the  end  for  ha*^ 
the  price  that  the  trust  offered.      Under  these 
circumstances   it   is   not    surprising    that   they 
decided    to    sell,    and    the    American     Trust, 
masquerading  under  the  specious  title  of  the 
British  Tobacco  Co.,  got  the  necessary  foothold, 
and  began  at  once  the  operations  necessary  to 
secure  control  of  the  market. 

For  the  consumer,  the  immediate  result  was  a 
reduction  in  the  price  of  tobacco,  especially  of 
cigarettes,  all  round.  The  advent  of  the 
American  competitor  compelled  the  British 
firms  to  form  a  combination,  although  they  did 
not  call  it  a  trust,  of  their  own,  under  the  title 
of  the  Imperial  Tobacco  Co.,  for  the  purpose 
of  defending  their  own  interests  by  common 
action.  The  battle  has  as  yet  hardly  begun, 
but  it  has  already  yielded  handsome  first  fruits 
of  profit  to  the  newspapers,  in  which  the  com- 
peting forces  are  advertising  very  liberally. 
How  long  they  will  keep  it  up  remains  to  be 
seen.  But  what  seems  probable  is  that  they 
will  not  succeed  in  establishing  a  monopoly, 
but  that  they  will  materially  reduce  the  profits 
of  the  British  companies. 


THE  H.   A.   LINE  TWIN-SCREW  EXPRESS  STEAMER  DEU.^.^.-^---^-,   HOLDING  THE   SPEED 
RECORDS  FOR  THfe  ATLANTIC  PASSAGE,  1901. 


(     147     ) 


PART  IV. 

THE    SUMMING-UP. 


Chapter   I.— What   is  the  Secret  of 
American  Success  ?  ^ 

There  is  no  one  secret  of  American  success. 
It  is  due  to  many  causes  co-operating  to  con- 
vert the  modern  American  into  a  dynamo  of  I 
energy,  and  make  him  the  supreme  type  of  a'' 
strenuous  life.  ^ 

American  success  may  be  explained  in  many 
ways.  A  young  and  vigorous  race  has  been 
let  loose  among  the  incalculable  treasures  of 
a  virgin  continent.  Into  that  race  there  has 
been     poured    in    lavish    profusion    the    vital 

»  energies  of  many  other  races  chosen  by  a 
process  of  natural  selection  which  eliminated 
the  weaker,  the  more  timid,  the  less  adventurous 
spirits.  This  great  amalgam  of  heterogeneous 
energies  constitutes  a  new  composite  race, 
which  found  itself  free  to  face  all  the  problems 
of  the  universe  without  any  of  the  restraints  of 
prejudices,  traditions  or  old-established  institu- 
tions which  encumber  the  nations  of  the  Old 
World.  Americans  had  no  swaddling  clothes 
to  cast.  They  sprang  into  life  like  Minerva 
from  the  brain  of  Jove,  without  any  need  to 
rid  themselves  of  the  garments  of  infancy. 
They  had  also  the  immense  advantage  of  an 
atmosphere  which  in  many  parts  of  the  con- 
tinent was  a  perpetual  exhilaration.  All  these 
•causes  contribute  to  American  success.  They 
belong  to  the  Americans  as  an  inalienable 
possession,  nor  can  we  by  any  possibility  hope 

/  to  share  them.  They  are  as  inseparable  from 
the  Continent  of  America  as  the  Falls  of  Niagara 
or  the  Mississippi  \'alley. 

But  there  are  other  causes  which  contribute 

^  in  no  small  degree  to  American  success,  of 
which  the  Americans  haVe  no  natural  monopoly. 
"  The  success  of  the  Americans,"  said  a 
cultivated  Jew,  who,  born  in  the  Old  World, 
had  lived  for  some  time  in  the  New,  "may  be 
said  to  spring  from  two  causes.  The  first  is 
that  of  the  concentration  of  the  whole  genius  of 
the  race  upon  industrial  pursuits.  In  Germany," 
he  said,  "  the  maintenance,  the  equipment,  and 
the  organisation  of  the  army  diverts  to  the 
study  of  military  questions  an  immense  pro- 
portion of  the  genius  of  Germans.  In  Italy 
and  France  the  genius  of  the  people  finds  its 
natural  vent  in  the  study  of  art,  or,  in  the  case 
of  the  Roman  Church,  in  theological  specula- 


tion or  in  the  management  of  an  immense 
ecclesiastical  organisation.  In  England  there 
is  a  great  scattering  of  energy.  The  genius  of 
your  people  expends  itself  not  in  one,  but  in  half- 
a-dozen  directions.  You  are  pre-occupied  with 
your  commerce,  with  your  colonies,  and  with 
your  navy.  You  have  built  up  a  great 
literature,  and  you  have  made  a  positive 
cultus  of  sport.  But  in  the  United  States  the 
whole  undivided  genius  of  the  people  is  con- 
centrated upon  the  pursuit  of  wealth.  Hence 
this  one  thing  they  do  and  do  with  all  their 
might,  and  therefore  easily  distance  all  com- 
petitors whose  energies  are  dissipated  upon 
other  channels." 

"  That  is  one  secret  of  American  success,"  he 
continued.  "  But  there  is  another  to  which  I 
attach  even  more  importance.  All  power  arises 
from  restraint.  Indulgence  is  the  dissipation 
of  energy.  For  two  hundred  years  in  the  New 
England  States,  the  stern  discipline  of  Puritan 
morality,  repressed  with  iron  hand  the  animal 
instincts  which  lead  to  a  self-indulgent  life. 
Each  generation  which  lived  and  died  under  that 
yoke  lived  and  died  voluntarily  subjecting  itself 
to  a  sterner  restraint  than  that  imposed  on  any 
nation  before  or  since.  But  it  accumulated  energy 
which  it  transmitted  to  its  descendants.  Now  in 
our  day  we  see  that  tremendous  spring  uncoiling 
with  results  at  which  all  the  world  wonders. 
The  stock  of  energy  which  the  New  Englanders 
accumulated  in  two  centuries  could  only  have 
been  acquired,  as  great  fortunes  are  built  up,  by 
long  years  of  self-denial,  patiently  persisted  in 
despite  all  temptations.  How  long  it  will  last 
is  another  question,  but  at  the  present  moment 
we  can  see  no  sign  of  that  pent-up  reservoir 
of  energy  being  exhausted." 

This,  however,  does  not  help  us  much,  for 
no  one  can  improvise  ancestors  of  the  Puritan 
type.  We  must,  therefore,  look  further  afield 
if  we  would  discover  any  American  secret  by 
which  we  may  profit. 

Within  this  narrowed  range  a  very  little  obser- 
vation will  lead  us  to  discover  three  of  the 
American  secrets  which  are  capable  of  export. 
The  first  is  Education  :  the  second  is  increased 
incentives  to  Production  ;  and  the  third  is  Demo- 
cracy. It  may  be  well  to  examine  each  of  these 
in  turn.  Nearly  seventy  years  ago  when  Cobden 
visited  the  United  States,  he  laid  an  unerring 

L    2 


148 


The  Americanisation  of  the   World. 


finger  upon  the  superior  education  of  the 
American  common  people  as  the  secret  of  their 
growing  ascendency.     He  said  : — 

"  The  universality  of  education  in  the  United 
States  is  probably  more  calculated  than  all  others 
to  accelerate  their  progress  towards  a  superior 
rank  of  civilisation  and  power.  One  thirty- 
sixth  portion  of  all  public  lands,  of  which  there 
are  hundreds  of  thousands  of  square  miles  un- 
appropriated, is  laid  apart  for  the  purposes  of 
instruction.  If  knowledge  be  power,  and  if 
education  gives  knowledge,  then  must  the 
Americans  inevitably  become  the  most  power- 
ful people  in  the  world.  The  very  genius  of 
American  legislation  is  opposed  to  ignorance  in 
the  people,  as  the  most  deadly  enemy  of  good 
government.  .  .  .  There  is  now  more  than  six 
times  as  much  advertising  and  reading  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic  as  in  Great  Britain. 
There  are  those  who  are  fond  of  decrying  news- 
paper-reading, but  we  regard  every  scheme  that 
is  calculated  to  make  mankind  think,  everything 
that  by  detaching  the  mind  from  the  present 
moment,  and  leading  it  to  reflect  upon  the  past 
or  future,  rescues  it  from  the  dominion  of  mere 
sense,  as  calculated  to  exalt  us  in  the  scale  of 
being,  and,  whether  it  be  a  newspaper  or  a 
volume  that  serves  this  end,  the  instrument  is 
worthy  of  honour  at  the  hands  of  enlightened 
philanthropists." 

There  is  a  saying  of  Confucius,  which  was 
often  quoted  when  the  French  legions  went 
down  before  the  educated  Germans — that  he 
who  leads  an  uneducated  people  to  war  throws 
them  away.  The  victories  registered  on  French 
battlefields  were  won  by  the  German  school- 
masters ;  and  so  it  is  to  the  little  red  school-house 
in  which  the  school-marm  taught  boys  and  girls 
together  for  more  than  a  hundred  years,  that  we 
must  go  to  find  the  sceptre  of  the  American 
dominion.  It  is  little  more  than  thirty  years 
since  education  became  compulsory  in  the 
United  Kingdom ;  and  it*  was  in  still  more 
recent  times  that  the  school-fees  were  abolished. 
But  education  has  been  universal,  free,  and 
compulsory  in  the  United  States  of  America 
from  the  very  foundation  of  the  New  England 
Colonies.  The  first  object  of  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  was  to  found  a  conventicle  in  which 
they  could  worship  God  as  they  thought  fit; 
but  after  the  founding  of  the  Church  their  first 
care  was  to  open  a  school.  Hence  the  average 
level  of  intelligence  in  the  United  States,  despite 
the  immense  influx  of  19  millions  of  the  unedu- 
cated European  horde,  is  much  higher  than  it  is 
with  us.  In  that  vast  Republic  every  one  can 
at  least  read  and  write,  and  upon  that  basis 
Americans  have  reared  a  superstructure  of  edu- 
cational appliance  which  causes  Englishmen  to 
despair.    Mr.  Frederic  Harrison,  when  he  visited 


the  United  States  last  in  1900,  wds  lost  in  amaze- 
ment and  admiration  at  the  immense  energy  and 
lavish  magnificence  of  the  apparatus  of  education. 
"  The  whole  educational  machinery  of  America," 
he  said,  "  must  be  at  least  tenfold  that  of  the 
United  Kingdom.  That  open  to  women  must 
be  at  least  twentyfold  greater  than  with  us,  and 
it  is  rapidly  advancing  to  meet  that  of  men  both 
in  numbers  and  quality." 

According  to  some  statistics  published  this 
autumn  by  the  Scientific  American,  there  are  629 
universities  and  colleges  in  the  United  States, 
the  total  value  of  whose  property  is  estimated  at 
;^68,ooo,ooo.  The  total  income  was  over  5^ 
millions  sterling.  In  a  single  year,  1898-99,  the 
value  of  gifts  to  these  institutions  amounted  to 
;^4,4oo,ooo.  The  number  of  students  pursuing 
undergraduate  and  graduate  courses  in  universi- 
ties, colleges,  and  schools  of  technology  was 
147,164.  Of  these  only  43,913  were  enrolled 
as  students  of  the  three  professions — law,  medi- 
cine, and  theology.  The  number  of  students 
per  million,  which  stood  at  573  in  1872,  rose  to 
770  in  1880,  to  850  in  1890,  whereas  in  1899 
it  had  gone  up  to  1196 — more  than  double  in 
twenty-eight  years. 

A  whole  volume  might  be  written  in  com- 
paring and  contrasting  the  educational  systems 
of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States.  But  it 
is  unnecessary  to  burden  the  reader  with 
statistics.  American  superiority,  as  attested 
by  statistics,  has  its  root  in  one  fundamental 
difference  between  the  two  nations.  In 
America  everybody,  from  the  richest  to  the 
poorest,  considers  that  education  is  a  boon,  a 
necessity  of  life,  and  the  more  education  they 
get  the  better  it  is  for  the  whole  country.  In 
Great  Britain,  Sir  John  Gorst  himself  being  /" 
witness,  the  educated  classes  regard  education  ^ 
as  unnecessary  for  the  labouring  classes.  The 
country  squire  and,  broadly  speaking,  the  class 
which  dresses  for  dinner,  are  of  opinion  that 
those  who  do  not  dress  for  dinner  are  better 
without  education.  Sir  John  Gorst,  the  Minister 
officially  responsible  for  British  education,  has 
affirmed  this  in  terms  which  leave  no  room 
for  mistake.  It  is  this  which  differentiates 
the  Briton  from  the  American.  Our  men  of 
light  and  leading,  those  who  have  enjoyed 
all  the  advantages  of  superior  education,  who 
monopolise  the  immense  endowments  of  the 
ancient  universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge, 
resent  the  demand  that  the  children  of  the 
agricultural  labourer  or  the  costermonger  should 
receive  the  best  education  that  the  State  can  give 
them.  Education  in  this  country  is  not  regarded 
as  a  good  investment.  Hence  it  is  that,  while 
American  millionaires  find  pleasure  in  lavishing 
millions  in  the  endowment  of  universities  and 
technical  schools  and  the  provision  of  educa- 


What  is  the  Secret  of  America7i  Success  ? 


149 


/ 


tional  apparatus,  the  bequests  to  education  in 
this  country  amount  to  a  beggarly  sum.  Mr. 
Carnegie,  born  a  Scotchman,  but  a  naturahsed 
citizen  of  the  States,  has  given  more  money  for 
the  endowment  of  university  education  m  a 
single  cheque  than  all  our  millionaires  have 
given  to  our  universities  for  the  last  quarter  of  a 
century.  Until  a  change  comes  over  the  spirit 
of  our  country,  and  Society  with  a  big  S  recog- 
nises that  unless  our  people  are  educated  the 
game  is  up,  we  shall  not  see  any  material 
improvement.  The  future  belongs  not  to  brawn 
but  to  brain,  and  the  nation  which  ignores  both, 
as  we  unfortunately  are  doing  at  this  moment, 
will  inevitably  go  to  the  wall.  It  may  be  said 
that  it  is  no  use  looking  for  the  conversion  of 
our  governing  classes.  Until  our  working 
people  who  have  a  vote  determine  to  use  it 
to  compel  Parliament  to  give  every  English 
workman's  child  as  good  an  education  and  as 
fair  a  chance  of  making  his  way  to  a  university 
career  (if  he  is  bright  enough)  as  he  would 
have  if  he  emigrated  to  the  United  States, 
nothing  will  be  done. 

Secondly,  Incentives  to  increased  produc- 
tive power.  The  second  cause  of  American 
success,  which  we  could  appropriate  if  we  pleased, 
is  that  of  imi)roved  methods  of  production. 
We  want  more  machinery,  better  machinery, 
and  we  must  not  stint  its  output.  The  old 
•  spirit  which  led  to  the  machine  riots  in  the 
West  Riding  of  Yorkshire  at  the  beginning  of 
the  century  is  still  latent  in  the  British  work- 
man. There  is  no  need  to  go  into  old 
sores  or  to  enter  upon  disputed  ground,  but  it 
is  unfortunately  no  longer  disimtable  that  our 
industrial  progress  is  hampered  in  two  directions, 
iirst,  by  the  reluctance  of  the  employer  to  invest 
in  new  machinery,  and,  secondly,  by  a  belief  on 
the  part  of  many  workmen  that  the  less  work 
each  man  does  the  more  work  there  is  for 
somebody  else. 

The  difficulty  about  machinery  arises  largely 
from  the  English  prejudice  in  favour  of  good, 
solid  machines  which,  if  once  built,  will  last 
for  a  long  time.  The  American  deliberately 
touts  in  flimsy  machinery  which  will  wear  out,  as 
Jhe  calculates  that  by  the  time  he  has  got  all  the 
*\vork  out  of  his  machine  that  it  will  stand,  new 
improvements  will  have  been  invented  which 
will  necessitate  in  any  case  the  purchase  of  new 
machinery.  Hence  he  buys  a  cheaper  article, 
uses  it  up  quickly,  and  then  gets  a  new  one 
with  the  latest  improvements.  The  Briton  finds 
that  he  has  a  machine  almost  as  good  as  new 
when  the  American  machine  is  worn  out,  and  is 
loth  to  cast  it  on  one  side. 

There  is  a  certain  objection  to  labour-saving 
machines  on  the  part  of  many  workmen,  who 
regard   all   such   machines    as    the    owners   of 


stage  -  coaches  regarded  locomotives.  It  is 
calculated  that  every  locomotive  that  is 
turned  out  of  an  engine-shop  makes  work 
for  as  many  horses  as  the  horse-power  which 
it  represents,  and  there  has  never  been  so  much 
demand  for  labour  as  since  the  introduction 
of  labour-saving  machinery  became  universal. 
The  popular  fallacy  that  contrivances  which 
economise  labour  make  less  work  for  the\ 
labourer  was  never  so  aptly  illustrated  as  in  the/ 
story  of  the  Tsar  and  the  Dutch  Ambassador, 
who  met  in  the  Seventeenth  Century  on  the 
banks  of  the  Volga.  Great  barges  were  being 
towed  up  the  stream  by  gangs  of  200  moujiks, 
who  were  harnessed  to  the  tow-rope,  and  so, 
with  infinite  expenditure  of  sweat  and  sinew, 
they  hauled  their  clumsy  craft  at  the  rate  of 
about  two  miles  an  hour.  The  Dutchman 
addressed  the  Tsar  and  respectfully  ventured  to 
point  out  to  him  that  with  his  permission  he 
(the  Dutchman)  could  rig  up  a  mast  and  a 
sail  which  would  enable  the  wind  to  drive  the 
boat  much  more  swiftly  through  the  water  with- 
out any  need  for  this  costly  human  haulage. 
The  Tsar  listened  for  a  moment  and  then  sternly 
reproved  the  adventurous  Dutchman.  "How 
dare  you,"  he  said,  "propose  to  me  to  adopt 
a  contrivance  which  would  take  the  bread  out 
of  the  mouths  of  these  poor  fellows  ?  " 

And  so  the  moujiks  went  on  with  their  hauling. 
Every  one  sees  the  absurdity  of  such  a  reply, 
but  at  bottom  it  is  exactly  the  same  spirit  which 
inspires  the  objection  to  machines  which  econo- 
mise labour. 

This,  however,  is  a  less  danger  than  the 
spirit,  to  which  a  good  deal  of  attention  has 
been  called  of  late  by  articles  in  the  Times  and 
elsewhere,  which  leads  workmen  deliberately  to 
dawdle  over  their  work  with  the  idea  that  the 
less  work  each  man  does  the  more  work  there 
will  be  for  his  mate.  The  same  spirit  shows 
itself  in  the  extreme  punctiliousness  with  which 
workmen  will  insist  upon  never  doing  anything 
but  their  own  particular  job,  under  no  matter 
what  stress  of  emergency.  In  some  industries 
we  have  almost  arrived  at  the  extreme  division 
of  labour  that  prevails  in  India,  which  necessi- 
tates the  employment  of  twenty  servants  to  do 
the  work  of  three.  The  folly  of  this  deliberate 
limitation  of  output  is  recognised  by  the  more 
intelligent  leaders  of  the  working  classes,  and 
the  experience  of  the  Westinghouse  Company 
at  their  new  Manchester  works  is  full  of  hope. 
By  the  introduction  of  American  foremen,  and 
by  a  frank  and  candid  explanation  to  the  work- 
men of  what  was  wanted,  the  Americans  declared 
that  they  found  no  difficulty  in  getting  as  much 
good  work  out  of  P2nglishmen  in  England  as 
they  are  always  able  to  get  out  of  Englishmen 
when  they  emigrate  to   America. 


aso 


The  Americanisation  of  the   World. 


But  wc  cannot  man  all  our  works  with  Ameri- 
can foremen,  nor  is  it  desirable  that  the  English 
in  their  own  country  should  be  reduced  to  the 
level  of  Gibeonites,  to  be  hewers  of  wood  and 
drawers  of  water  for  the  superior  race.  By  far 
the  best  way  of  overcoming  this  difficulty  is  by 
the  introduction  of  some  method  of  co-partner- 
ship, or  of  profit-sharing,  which  would  make 
every  workman  feel  that  he  had  a  personal 
interest  in  the  prosperity  of  the  concern.  At 
present  he  feels  too  often  that  he  has  nothing 
personally  to  gain  by  putting  his  back  into  his 
work.  The  shareholder  and  not  the  workman 
reaps  the  benefit  of  increased  efficiency.  To 
get  round  that  difficulty  is  not  impossible,  as 
the  experience  of  Mr.  George  Livesey  in  the 
South  Metropolitan  Gas  Company  shows.  Profit- 
sharing  is  the  first,  co-partnership  the  second, 
and  co-operative  production  the  third  step  which 
will  lead  us  out  of  the  morass  in  which  we 
are  at  present  floundering.  The  experience  of 
Co-operative  Works  at  Leicester,  and  the  neigh- 
bourhood justifies  confident  expectations  as  to 
tlie  excellent  results  which  would  follow  if  the 
consciousness  of  mutual  interest  were  the  rule 
instead  of  the  exception  in  British  industry. 

Neither  here  nor  in  the  United  States  can  we 
hope  to  put  the  tremendous  premium  upon 
individual  effort  which  was  offered  in  the  early 
days  of  American  industry.  The  trade  union  is 
likely  to  become  more  rather  than  less  powerful 
in  the  days  that  arc  to  come.  It  appeals  very 
strongly  to  the  Socialist  aspirations  which  seem 
likely,  in  America,  as  well  as  in  this  country,  to 
be  an  increasing  factor  in  the  organisation  ot 
industry;  but  that  is  no  reason  why  the  trade 
unions  should  not  provide  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  individual  capacity  among  their  own 
members.  It  would  be  a  great  mistake,  how- 
ever, to  think  that  trade  unions  are  the  only 
obstacle.  We  have  to  face  the  reluctance  on 
the  part  of  employers  to  recognise  that  their 
workmen  have  brains  which  could  be  utilised. 
The  American  workman  who  suggests  an  im- 
provement in  the  machinery  which  he  is  working, 
is  encouraged  and  rewarded.  In  England  he 
is  too  often  told  to  mind  his  own  business. 

And  as  it  is  with  the  employers,  so  it  is  with 
the  law  of  the  land.  Our  patent  laws,  instead 
of  encouraging  invention  on  the  part  of  those 
who  have  brains  but  no  money,  absolutely 
handicap  the  poor  man,  and  leave  him  helpless 
lo  profit  by  his  own  inventions.  Sir  John  Leng, 
in  a  recent  address  at  Dundee,  brought  out 
very  clearly  this  contrast  between  the  American 
and  British  systems.  The  American  patent 
law  secures  a  patentee  protection  for  seventeen 
years  for  a  total  cost  of  ;^8.  To  secure  a 
patent  for  fourteen  years  in  this  countr>'  requires 
an  expenditure  of  £,^f)'     The  American  Patent 


Office  makes  a  fairly  thorough  examination  of  a 
patent,  and,  if  required,  the  applicant  is  assisted 
to  put  his  application  into  proper  shape.  With 
this  stimulus  to  invention,  it  is  not  surprising 
that  the  inventive  genius  of  the  American  has 
outstripped  that  of  the  Old  World.  Fortunately 
this  can  be  remedied,  for  our  Patent  Office  is 
one  of  those  institutions  which  can  be  Ameri- 
canised with  the  greatest  ease. 

The  third  cause  of  American  success  which 
we  can  also  appropriate  is  that  which  comes 
from  the  frank  adoption  and  consistent  applica- 
tion of  the  principle  of  democracy.  Mr.  Choate, 
the  American  Ambassador  at  the  Court  of  St. 
James's,  recently  declared  in  a  public  speech  at 
New  York : — 

*'  After  all  that  I  have  seen  of  other  countries,  it  seems 
to  me  absolutely  clear  that  the  cardinal  principle  upon 
which  American  institutions  rest,  the  absolute  political 
equality  of  all  citizens  with  imiversal  suffrage,  is  the 
secret  of  American  success.  Aided  by  that  comprehen- 
sive system  of  education,  which  enables  every  citizen  to 
pursue  his  calling  and  exercise  the  franchise,  it  puts  the 
country  on  that  plane  of  success  which  it  has  reached." 

"  I  have  no  doubt,"  said  De  Tocqueville  more 
than  sixty  years  ago,  "  that  the  democratic  in-- 
stitutions  of  the  United  States,  joined  to  the 
physical  constitution  of  the  country,  are  the 
cause  (not  the  direct,  as  is  so  often  asserted, 
but  the  indirect  cause)  of  the  prodigious  com- 
mercial activity  of  the  inhabitants."  He  adds, 
further  on  :  "  Democracy  does  not  give  the 
people  the  most  skilful  government,  but  it  pro- 
duces what  the  ablest  governments  are  frequently 
unable  to  create  :  namely,  a  superabundant 
force,  and  an  energy  which  is  inseparable  from 
it,  and  which  may,  however  unfavourable 
circumstances  may  be,  produce  wonders." 

As  to  the  influence  of  democratic  institutions 
upon  the  inventive  ingenuity  and  energ)'  of  a 
people,  Mr.  Wideneos  of  Philadelphia,  discussing 
the  connection  between  democracy  and  business, 
recently  said  to  Mr.  W.  E.  Curtis  : — 

"  Our  greatest  success  in  industry  and  com- 
merce has  been  due  to  the  higher  intelligence 
and  better  education  of  the  American  working 
yman.  The  United  States  is  a  democracy  where 
^everybody  has  a  chance,  and  that  inspires  ambi- 
aion.  Look  at  the  list  of  men  who  control 
business  affairs  in  that  country.  Nine  of  every 
ten  of  them  began  at  the  bottom  and  in  a  small 
way,  but  the  road  was  open  to  everybody  and 
the  best  man  got  there  first. 

"  In  England  the  opportunities  are  compara- 
tively limited,  and  the  lower  classes  have  no 
inspiration  ;  no  inducement  to  save  their  money 
and  improve  themselves.  There  is  no  use  in  a 
boy  educating  himself  for  better  things  when  he 
cannot  get  them.  The  very  best  of  us  are  from 
the  bottom.     Some  of  our  biggest  swells  had 


IV/iai  is  the  Secret  of  American  Success? 


151 


fathers  who  worked  for  days'  wages.  Yet  that 
was  no  handicap.  They  gave  them  good  con- 
stitutions, good  educations  and  opportunities. 
Such  men  now  command  the  financial,  com- 
mercial and  political  world." 

We  have  democratised  our  institutions  piece- 
meal, but  we  are  still  far  short  of  applying  the 
principle  thoroughly  in  such  fashion  as  to  make 
every  man  feel  the  stimulus  ot  equality  of 
responsibility,  equality  of  opportunity. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  pursue  this  in  detail, 
but  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  at  the  present 
moment  the  only  governing  institutions  in 
this  country  in  which  we  can  pretend  .to  be 
ahead  of  the  United  States  are  our  municipali- 
ties, where  the  principle  of  democracy  has  been 
carried  out  much  more  thoroughly  than  in  the 
Imperial  Parliament.  Imagine  the  London 
County  Council  saddled  with  a  Second  Chamber, 
three-fourths  of  whom  were  the  ground  land- 
lords of  London,  with  a  right  of  veto  upon  every 
measure  passed  by  the  County  Council !  Could 
anything  be  suggested  more  certain  to  choke 
the  civic  spirit  which  has  given  new  life  to 
London  in  the  last  ten  years?  Aristocratic 
institutions,  no  doubt,  have  their  advantages, 
but  they  do  not  tend  to  develop  in  the  mass  of 
the  people  a  keen  sense  of  citizenship.  They 
effectively  paralyse  that  consciousness  of  indivi- 
dual power  which  gives  so  great  and  constant  a 
stimulus  to  the  energy  and  selfrespect  of  the 
citizens  of  the  RepubUc. 


Chapter  II. — A  Look  Ahead. 

What  is  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter? 
It  may  be  stated  in  a  sentence.  There  lies 
before  the  people  of  Great  Britain  a  choice  of 

Klwo  alternatives.  If  they  decide  to  merge  the 
existence  of  the  British  Empire  in  the  United 
States  of  tiie  English-speaking  World,  they  may 
continue  for  all  time  to  be  an  integral  part 
of  the  greatest  of  all  World-Powers,  supreme 
on  sea  and  unassailable  on  land,  permanently 
delivered  from  all  fear  of  hostile  attack,  and 
capable  of  wielding  irresistible  influence  in  all 
parts  of  this  planet.  That  is  one  alternative. 
The  other  is  the  acceptance  of  our  supersession 
by  the  United  States  as -the  centre  of  gravity  in 
the  English-speaking  world,  the  loss  one  l)y  one 
of  our  great  colonies,  and  our  ultimate  reduction 
to  the  status  of  an  English-speaking  Belgium. 
One  or  the  other  it  must  be.  Which  shall  it 
be  ?  Seldom  has  a  more  momentous  choice 
been  presented  to  the  citizens  of  any  country. 

It  is  natural  that  British  pride  should  revolt 
at  the  conclusion  which  is  thus  presented  as  the 
result  of  a  rapid  survey  of  the  forces  governing 


the  present  political  and  financial  and  industrial 
situation.  But  pride  and  prejudice  are  evil 
counsellors.  The  (juestion  is  not  what  we 
would  best  like  to  do,  but  what  is  the  best  course 
possible  in  the  circumstances  ?  If  it  is  admitted 
that  the  whole  trend  of  our  time  is  towards  the 
unification  of  races  of  a  common  stock  and 
common  language;  if  it  is  further  admitted 
that  such  unification  would  carry  with  it  in- 
calculable advantages  in  securing  the  English- 
speaking  nations  from  all  danger  either  of  a 
fratricidal  conflict  or  of  foreign  attack,  while 
enormously  improving  both  their  prosperity  at 
home  and  the  influence  which  they  can  exercise 
abroad,  it  is  difficult  to  resist  the  conclusion 
that  the  object  is  one  well  worthy  of  being  made 
the  ultimate  goal  of  the  statesmen  both  of  the 
United  States  and  of  the  United  Kingdom. 
That  it  is  possible  to  constitute  as  one  vast 
federated  unity  the  English-speaking  United 
States  of  the  world,  can  hardly  be  disputed. 
That  there  are  difficulties,  immense  difficulties, 
is  equally  true  ;  but  it  is  well  to  remember  that 
these  diificulties  did  not  appear  insuperable  to 
Adam  Smith,  who  wrote  nearly  a  hundred  years 
before  the  Atlantic  had  been  bridged  by  steam. 
It  is  worth  while  recalling  his  profound  and 
luminous  observations  in  the  first  edition  of  his 
''  Wealth  of  Nations,"  which  was  published  in 
1776,  on  the  very  eve  of  the  revolt  of  the 
American  Colonies.  At  that  time,  the  great 
.schism  had  not  occurred  which  has  for  more  ' 
than  a  century  banished  the  idea  from  the  minds 
of  man  ^  but  the  recent  and  welcome  rapproche- 
ment which  has  taken  place  between  the  British 
and  American  peoples  renders  it  possible  for  us 
to  get  back  to  the  standpoint  of  Adam  Smith, 
He  contemplated  the  union  of  Great  Britain 
with  her  American  Colonies  by  admitting  repre- 
sentatives from  those  Colonies  to  the  Imperial 
Parliament.  For,  as  he  says  in  words  which 
are  as  true  to-day  as  they  were  then  : — 

"  The  assembly  which  deliberates  and  decides 
concerning  the  affairs  of  every  part  of  the 
Empire,  in  order  to  be  properly  informed,  ought 
certainly  to  have  representatives  from  every 
part  of  it." 

He  admitted  that  there  were  difficulties,  but 
denied  that  they  were  insurmountable. 

"  The  principal  difficulty,"  he  said,  "  arises, 
not  from  the  nature  of  things,  but  from  the 
prejudices  and  opinions  of  the  people  both  on 
this  side  and  on  the  other  side  oi  the  Atlantic." 

He  then  dealt  briefly  with  some  of  the  objec- 
tions that  were  urged,  objections  which  the 
lapse  of  time  has  answered  so  effectually  that 
we  need  not  even  refer  to  them  here.  But  in 
combating  one  of  these  objections  that  might 
be  raised  by  the  Americans — that  their  distance 
from   the  seat   of   Government   might   expose 


152 


The  Americanisation  of  the   World. 


them  to  many  oppressions — he  used  the  follow- 
ing remarkable  words  : — 

"  I'he  distance  of  America  from  the  seat  of 
Government  the  natives  of  that  country  might 
flatter  themselves,  with  some  appearance  of 
reason,  too,  would  not  be  of  a  very  long  con- 
tinuance. Such  has  hitherto  been  the  rapid 
progress  of  that  country  in  wealth,  population, 
and  improvement  that,  in  the  course  of  little 
more  than  a  century,  perhaps,  the  produce  of 
American  might  exceed  that  of  British  taxation. 
The  seat  of  the  Empire  would  then  naturally 
remove  itself  to  that  part  of  the  Empire  which 
contributes  most  to  the  general  defence  and 
support  of  the  whole." 

The  Imperial  idea,  therefore,  before  the  dis- 
ruption of  the  Empire,  contemplated  that  if  the 
empire  held  together,  its  capital  in  the  course  of 
time  would  be  transferred  from  the  Old  World 
to  the  New.      • 

The  same  idea  was  expressed  the  other  day 
with  much  greater  eloquence  by  Lord  Rosebcry 
in  his  address  as  Lord  Rector  to  the  students  of 
Glasgow  University.  Going  back  to  the  time 
when  Adam  Smith  wrote.  Lord  Rosebery 
allowed  his  imagination  to  dwell  upon  what 
might  have  been  the  results  to  the  English- 
speaking  race  if  the  elder  Pitt  had  prevented  or 
suppressed  the  reckless  budget  of  Charles 
Tovvnshend,  induced  George  IIL  to  listen  to 
reason,  and  by  introducing  representatives  from 
the  American  Colonies  into  the  Imperial  Par- 
liament, preserved  America  to  the  British 
Crown.  Had  such  a  measure  been  passed,  he 
said, 

"  It  would  have  provided  for  some  self- 
adjusting  system  of  representation,  such  as  now 
prevails  in  the  United  States,  by  which  increas- 
ing population  is  proportionally  represented." 

He  then  proceeded  : — 

"At  last,  when  the  Americans  became  the 
majority,  the  seat  of  Empire  would,  perhaps, 
have  been  moved  solemnly  across  the  Atlantic, 
Great  Britain  have  become  the  historical  shrine 
and  the  European  outpost  of  the  World-empire. 
What  an  extraordinary  revolution  it  would  have 
been  had  it  been  accomplished  !  The  greatest 
known,  without  bloodshed^  the  most  sublime 
transference  of  power  in  the  history  of  mankind. 
Our  conceptions  can  hardly  picture  the  proces- 
sion across  the  Atlantic.  The  greatest  Sovereign 
in  the  greatest  fleet  in  the  universe,  Ministers, 
Government,  Parliament,  departing  solemnly 
for  the  other  hemisphere,  not  as  in  the  case  of 
the  Portuguese  sovereign  emigrating  to  Brazil 
uuder  the  spur  of  necessity,  but  under  the 
vigoirous  embrace  of  the  younger  world." 

He  adn^itted  that  the  result  was  one  to  which 
we  could  scarcely  acclimatise  ourselves  even  in 
idea,  but  he  went  on  to  speculate  upon  some 


of  the  consequences  that  would  have  happened 
from  so  blessed  a  consummation  : — 

"  America  would  have  hung  on  the  skirts  of 
Britain,  and  pulled  her  back  out  of  European 
complications.  She  would  have  profoundly 
affected  the  foreign  policy  of  the  mother-country 
in  the  direction  of  peace.  Her  influence  in 
our  domestic  policy  would  have  been  scarcely 
less  potent.  It  might  probably  have  appeased 
and  even  contented  Ireland.  The  ancient  con- 
stitution of  Great  Britain  would  have  been 
rendered  more  comprehensive  and  more  elastic. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  American  yearning  for 
liberty  would  have  taken  a  different  form.  It 
would  have  blended  with  other  traditions  and 
flowed  into  other  moulds ;  and  above  all,  had 
there  been  no  suppression  there  would  have 
been  no  war  of  Independence,  no  war  of  1812, 
with  all  the  bitter  memories  that  these  have 
left  on  American  soil.  To  secure  that  priceless 
boon  I  should  have  been  satisfied  to  see  the 
British  Federal  Parliament  sitting  in  Columbian 
territory.  It  is  indeed  difficult  to  dam  the 
flow  of  ideas  in  dealing  with  so  pregnant  a 
possibility." 

The  question  which  it  is  my  purpose  to  raise 
in  the  present  treatise  is  whether  the  realisation 
of  Lord  Rosebery's  dream  is  even  now  outside 
the  pale  of  practical  politics.  Would  not  the 
gain  of  the  establishment  of  a  Federal  Parlia- 
ment of  the  English-speaking  race  on  American 
soil  more  than  compensate  us  for  any  loss  of 
what  may  be  described  as  the  parochial  prestige 
of  the  insular  Briton  ?  Ireland  still  has  to  be 
contented;  the  British  Constitution,  for  lack 
of  elasticity,  has  become  practically  unworkable ; 
the  Imperial  Parliament  shows  no  sign  of  being 
able  to  admit  representatives  from  the  distant 
Colonies  ;  and  danger  of  collision  between  the 
Empire  and  the  Republic,  although  masked 
by  present  appearance,  automatically  increases 
as  the  over-sea  ambitions  of  the  United  States 
develop  and  expand.  In  its  original  shape, 
of  course,  Lord  Rosebery's  vision  can  never  be 
realised.  The  possibility  of  uniting  the  whole 
English-speaking  world  under  the  aegis  of  the 
sceptre  of  a  British  sovereign,  perished  for  ever 
when  George  III.  made  war  upon  the  American 
Colonies. 

But  because  our  forefathers  by  their  pre- 
judice and  passion  wrecked  the  possibility  of 
realising  the  great  ideal,  that  is  no  reason  why 
we,  their  sons,  should  not  endeavour  to  undo 
the  evil  results  of  their  folly  by  attempting  to 
secure  the  unification  of  the  race  by  the  only 
means  which  are  still  available.  Unification 
under  the  Union  Jack  having  become  impossible 
by  our  own  mistakes,  why  should  we  not 
seek  unification  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes? 
We   could,   of  course,  keep    the    Union  Jack 


A  Look  Ahead 


153 


as  a  local  flag,  as  in  a  Federated  South 
Africa  we  could  permit  the  burghers  of  the 
Transvaal  to  keep  the  Vierkleur.  It  pos- 
sesses a  historical  interest,  and  is  instinct  with 
too  many  heroic  memories  for  it  to  be  allowed 
to  pass  for  ever  from  sea  or  shore.  But  the 
day  has  passed  when  the  meteor  flag  of  England 
could  stand  any  chance  of  being  accepted  by 
the  majority  of  English-speaking  men.  In  such 
matters  the  majority  must  decide.  Not  only 
are  we  already  in  a  minority  of  nearly  one  to 
two,  but  the  majority  tends  every  year  to 
increase.  Are  we  as  a  nation  incapable  of 
facing  the  inevitable  and  of  governing  our 
course  in  accordance  therewith  ? 

Many  years  ago  when  the  late  Earl  of  Derby 
was  Colonial  Minister  in  Mr.  Gladstone's 
Cabinet,  he  discussed  this  question  with  Dr. 
E.  J.  Dillon,  now  well-known  as  correspondent 
of  the  Daily  Telegraph.  Dr.  Dillon  asked  him  as 
a  former  foreign  Minister  of  Great  Britain,  what 
he  thought  should  be  the  foreign  policy  of  the 
Empire.  Lord  Derby  replied  that  he  thought 
it  would  be  best  for  the  country  to  have  no  foreign 
policy  at  all,  which  led  Dr.  I)illon  to  ask  what 
then  did  he  contemplate  as  the  goal  of  British 
policy  in  the  future.     Lord  Derby  replied  : — - 

"  The  highest  ideal  that  I  can  look  forward  to 
in  the  future  of  my  country  is  that  the  time  may 
come  when  we  may  be  admitted  into  the  Ameri- 
can Union  as  States  in  one  great  Federation." 

It  may  be  said  that  Lord  Derby  was  a  Little 
Englander,  and  therefore  out  of  court.  But 
this  objection  cannot  be  brought  against  Mr. 
Rhodes,  who  is  a  Big  Englander  if  ever  there 
was  one,  and  who  more  than  any  man  in  our 
time  incarnates  the  spirit  of  British  Imperialism. 
But  Mr.  Rhodes,  although  he  would  not  adopt 
the  terms  of  Lord  Derby's  declaration,  is  abso- 
lutely at  one  with  him  on  the  main  point.  Mr. 
Rhodes  would  undoubtedly  much  prefer  to  see 
the  English-speaking  race  unified  under  the 
Union  Jack,  for  his  devotion  to  the  old  flag 
approaches  to  a  passion.  But  Mr.  Rhodes's 
pole  star  has  ever  been  the  unity  of  the  English- 
speaking  race.  No  one  can  talk  to  him  for 
long  without  coming  upon  the  sentiment  which 
is  ever  present  in  his  mind,  of  a  deep  and  almost 
angry  regret  over  the  fatal  folly  which  rent  the 
race  in  twain  in  the  eighteenth  century.  How 
often  have  I  not  heard  him  deplore  the  insensate 
folly  which  robbed  the  world  of  its  one  great 
hope  of  universal  peace.  Only  this  year  he  in- 
veighed, as  is  his  wont,  against  the  madness  of 
the  monarch  which  had  wrecked  the  fairest 
prospect  of  international  peace  which  had  ever 
dawned  upon  the  world. 

"  If  only  we  had  held  together,"  he  remarked, 
"  there  would  have  been  no  need  for  another 
cannon  to  be  cast  in   the   whole  world.     The 


Federation  of  the  English-speaking  world  would 
be  strong  enough  in  its  command  of  all  the 
material  resources  of  the  planet  to  compel  the 
decision  of  all  international  quarrels  by  a  more 
rational  method  than  that  of  war." 

Nor  has  he  abandoned  the  hope  that  even 
yet  that  great  Federation  may  be  brought  about. 
He  would,  no  doubt,  shrink  from  boldly  adopt- 
ing the  formula  that,  if  it  could  not  be  secured 
in  any  other  way  than  by  the  admission  of  the 
various  parts  of  the  British  Empire  as  States  of 
the  American  Union,  it  had  better  be  brought 
about  in  that  way  than  not  at  all.  He  has  so 
intense  a  longing  to  realise  the  unity  of  the  race 
that,  being  a  practical  man,  and  resolute  to 
attain  his  end  by  some  road,  if  that  which  he 
has  chosen  is  absolutely  impassable,  he  can  be 
counted  upon  as  one  of  the  great  personal  forces 
which  would  co-operate  in  the  attainment  of  our 
ideal. 

The  subject  is  not  one  upon  which  politicians 
are  likely  to  talk.  Any  utterance  in  favour  of 
coming  together  under  the  American  flag  could 
so  easily  be  misrepresented  by  a  political  oppo- 
nent as  an  act  of  treason  to  the  Union  Jack, 
that  men  whose  horizon  is  limited  to  the  next 
General  Election  naturally  refrain  from  ex- 
pressing any  opinion  on  the  subject.  But, 
privately,  no  one  who  moves  in  political  and 
journalistic  circles  can  ignore  the  fact  that  many 
of  the  strongest  Imperialists  are  heart  and  soul 
in  favour  of  seeing  the  British  Empire  and  the 
American  Republic  merged  in  the  English- 
speaking  United  States  of  the  World.  This  is 
an  ideal  splendid  enough  to  fascinate  the  imagi- 
nation of  all  men,  especially  of  those  who  have 
proved  most  susceptible  to  the  fascination  of 
Imperial  Federation. 

But  here  it  is  necessary  to  observe  that,  while 
on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  there  may  be  a  great 
latent  but  powerful  sentiment  in  favour  of  such 
reunion,  it  will  come  to  nothing  unless  it  is 
reciprocated  by  similar  sentiments  on  the  other 
side  of  the  water.  We  may  be  willing  to  make 
great  sacrifices  of  national  prejudice  and  Imperial 
pride  in  order  to  attain  this  greater  ideal,  but 
will  the  Americans  be  equally  fascinated  by  the 
ideal  of  race  unity?  The  United  States,  it  is 
said  by  some,  is  quite  big  enough  to  take  care 
of  itself.  It  has  no  longer  any  need  of  a 
British  alliance,  which  might  entail  considerable 
complications  and  involve  the  Republic  in 
entanglements  from  which  the  Americans  might 
not  unnaturally  recoil. 

The  subject  is  not  one  upon  which  the  Ameri- 
cans can  very  well  take  the  initiative.  The 
suggestion  has  even  offended  some  Americans, 
as  indicating  possibihties  altogether  beyond 
their  reach.  There  is  very  little  evidence,  on 
one  side  or  the  other,  as  to  what  would  be  the 


154 


TJie  Atnericanisation  of  the   World. 


probable  attitude  of  the  masses  of  the  Ameri- 
can people  should  this  question  be  raised  in  a 
practical  shape.  I  had,  however,  an  oppor- 
tunity of  discussing  the  matter  quite  recently 
with  two  typical  Americans,  who  were  singularly 
well  placed  for  forming  a  judgment  upon  the 
matter.  One,  bom  in  Scotland,  had  become  a 
naturalised  American  citizen.  The  other,  bom 
in  America,  had  become  a  naturalised  British 
subject.  The  former  had  been  all  his  life 
devoted  to  the  cause  of  peace.  The  other  has 
made  his  fortune  by  the  success  with  which  he 
has  manufactured  arms  of  war.  But  upon  this 
question  they  are  absolutely  at  one.  Sir  Hiram 
Maxim  and  Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie  are  both  men 
whose  maturity  of  judgment  and  wide  experience 
of  men  entitle  them  to  be  heard  with  respect 
upon  any  subject  to  which  they  have  given 
serious  attention.  Sir  Hiram  Maxim  wrote  me 
as  recently  as  the  8th  November  last,  after  we 
had  discussed  the  subject  for  some  time : — 

"  I  have  thought  much  of  the  long  and  inter- 
esting conversation  I  had  with  you  yesterday, 
and  although  I  do  not  hope  to  live  to  see  the 
consummation  of  what  was  foreshadowed  by 
you,  still  I  should  not  wonder  if  the  baby  was 
already  bom  who  will  witness  the  whole 
English-speaking  race  consolidated  in  some 
great  federation  forming  the  greatest,  richest, 
and  the  most  powerful  nation  that  the  world 
has  ever  known.  I  think  it  is  true  that  it  is 
sure  to  come  ;  it  is  only  a  question  of  time  and 
civilisation." 

I  saw  Mr.  Carnegie  on  the  25th  October,  just 
before  he  left  London  for  New  York.  Mr. 
Carnegie  is  a  remarkable  man  in  many  ways, 
but  he  is  absolutely  unique  in  being  at  once  a 
prophet  and  a  millionaire.  It  is  the  first  time 
in  the  history  of  the  world  in  which  the  two 
roles  have  been  played  by  a  single  man.  Mr. 
Carnegie  said  to  me : — 

"  Turn  up  my  '  Look  Ahead '  which  I  published  in 
the  North  American  Revirw  eight  years  ago,  and  you  will 
find  every  forecast  which  I  made  then  is  coming  true. 
You  remember,  I  told  you  that  when  you  sat  dowTi  to 
your  desk  to  write  that  chapter,  I  was  inclined  to  believe 
that  the  whole  scheme  was  somewhat  visionary,  but  that 
when  1  sent  the  manuscript  I  was  convinced  that  there 
was  nothing  more  practical  or  more  important  pressing 
upon  the  attention  of  statesmen.  Well,  eight  years  have 
passed  since  then,  and  now  when  I  take  a  look  back- 
wards, at  my  old  article,  '  Look  Ahead,"  I  am  more  than 
ever  impressed  with  the  soundness  of  the  views  which  I 
there  set  out.  We  are  heading  straight  to  the  Re-united 
States.  Everything  is  telling  that  way.  Your  people 
are  only  beginning  to  wake  up  to  the  irrestible  drift  of 
forces  which  dominate  the  situation. 

"It  is  coming,  coming  faster  than  you  people  in  the 
Old  World  realise.  Mr.  Frank  Stockton  was  down  at 
Skibo  this  year,  and  he  told  rather  a  good  story  bearing 
upon  this  question.  When  he  was  coming  down  in  the 
train,  he  foregathered  with  an  Englishman,  whom  he  met 
in  the  train,  and  they  got  talking  about  various  things, 
and  the  Englishman  expressed  what  is  now  a  very  common 


sentiment  among  your  |>eople — great  r^ret  at  the  folly 
of  George  in.  'Just  think  what  he  cost  us,' said  the 
Englishman.  '  Why,  he  cost  us  America.'  '  But,*  said 
Mr.  Stockton,  'you  must  not  forget  what  he  cost  us.' 
'Cost  you,*  said  the  Englishman.  'What  did  he  cost 
you  ?  '  •  He  cost  us  Britain,'  said  Mr.  Stockton.  And 
there  is  the  whole  truth  in  a  nutshell.  If  we  had  aH 
continued  together,  Britain  would  have  belonged  to 
America  much  more  than  America  would  have  belonged 
to  Britain,  and  it  will  come  to  that  yet." 

The  theme  is  a  favourite  one  with  Mr. 
Carnegie.  He  may  indeed  be  regarded  'as  the 
leading  exponent  of  the  idea.  In  his  "  Tri- 
umphant Democracy,"  he  maintained  that  the 
American  Constitution  offered  a  much  better, 
freer,  and  at  the  same  time  more  supple  system 
of  government  than  that  which  prevailed  in  the 
old  countr)'.  He  summarised  under  seventeen 
separate  heads  the  reasons  why  he  thought  the 
leadership  of  the  English-speaking  world  must 
belong  to  America.  Some  of  these  relating  to 
things  political  and  constitutional  may  be  quoted 
here  : — 

(7)  The  nation  whose  flag,  wherever  it  floats 
over  sea  and  land,  is  the  symbol  and  guarantor 
of  the  equality  of  the  citizen. 

(8)  The  nation  in  whose  Constitution  no  man 
suggests  improvement ;  whose  laws  as  they  stand 
are  satisfactory  to  all  citizens. 

(9)  The  nation  which  has  the  ideal  Second 
Chamber,  the  most  august  assembly  in  the  world 
— the  American  Senate. 

(10)  The  nation  whose  Supreme  Court  is  the 
envy  of  the  ex-Prime  Minister  of  the  parent 
land.     (Lord  Salisbury.) 

(n)  The  nation  whose  Constitution  is  "the 
most  perfect  piece  of  work  ever  struck  off"  at  one 
time  by  the  mind  and  purpose  of  man,"  accord- 
ing to  the  present  Prime  Minister  of  the  parent 
land.     (Mr.  Gladstone.) 

(12)  The  nation  most  profoundly  conservative 
of  what  is  good,  yet  based  upon  the  political 
equality  of  the  citizen. 

Since  the  publication  of  "  Triumphant  Demo- 
cracy," Mr.  Carnegie  has  discussed  the  ques- 
tion in  articles  contributed  to  the  English  and 
American  magazines,  notably  to  the  Nineteenth 
Century  for  September  1891,  in  an  article  en- 
titled '•  An  American  View  of  Imperial  Federa- 
tion," and  in  June,  1892,  in  the  North  American 
JRevietv,  in  a  paper  entitled  "A  Look  Ahead." 
There  are  others,  but  these  are  the  chief.  He 
concluded  his  articles  on  "  A  Look  Ahead  "  by 
the  following  declaration  of  faith — a  declaration 
which  might  be  regarded  in  other  men  as  a 
mere  fantasy,  but  which  in  a  hard-headed  man 
lise  Mr.  Carnegie,  who  has  shown  an  equal 
abiUty  in  amassing  and  giving  away  miUions, 
will  command  respect. 

"  Let  men  say  what  they  will,  but  I  say  that 
as  surely  as  the  sun  in  the  heavens  once  shond 


A  Look  Ahead. 


155 


upon  Britain  and -America  united,  so  surely  is  it 
one  morning  to  rise  and  shine  upon  and  greet 
again  tiie  Re-united  States  of  the  British- 
American  Union." 

This  confidence  was  based  in  the  first  case 
upon  the  fact  that  it  was  only  in  their  political 
ideas  that  there  was  any  dissimilarity,  "  for 
no  rupture  whatever  between  the  separated 
parts  has  ever  taken  place  in  language,  litera- 
ture, religion,  or  law.  In  these  uniformity  has 
always  existed.  Although  separated  politically, 
the  unity  of  the  parts  has  never  been  dis- 
turbed in  these  strong,  cohesive  and  cementing 
links." 

There  was  a  perpetual  process  of  assimilation 
going  on  between  the  political  institutions  of  the 
two  countries.  That  such  a  reunion  was  desirable 
seemed  to  Mr.  Carnegie  an  almost  self-evident 
proposition.  If  England  and  America  were  one 
they  would  be  able  to  maintain  the  peace  of  the 
Avorld  and  general  disarmament.  An  Anglo- 
American  reunion  would  admit  of  bringing 
British  goods  into  the  United  States  duty  free. 
The  richest  market  in  tlie  world  would  be  open 
to  Great  Britain,  free  of  all  duty  by  a  stroke  of 
the  pen.  There  would  not  be  an  idle  mine, 
furnace  or  factory  in  the  United  Kingdom. 

Apart  from  material  interests,  Mr.  Carnegie 
holds  very  strongly  to  the  idea  subsequently 
adopted  by  Mr.  Chamberlain  that  the  mind  of 
the  individual  citizen  expands  in  response  to 
the  magnitude  of  the  State  to  which  he  belongs. 
Dealing  with  great  affairs  broadens  and  elevates 
the  character — a  thesis  which  it  would  be  some- 
what difficult  to  maintain  in  face  of  the  fact  that 
the  great  idegis  which  have  shaken  the  world 
have  in  almost  every  case  been  conceived  by  the 
citizens  of  States  so  small  that  they  could  be 
stowed  away  out  of  sight  in  a  corner  of  a  single 
State  like  Texas.  Men's  minds  do  not  always 
expand  in  proportion  to  the  geographical  area 
of  the  Kingdom,  Empire  or  Republic  in  which 
they  happen  to  be  born.  Nevertheless  there  is  a 
certain  truth  in  Mr.  Carnegie's  remark,  although 
it  must  be  balanced  by  remembering  Burke's 
famous  phrase  about  statesmen  who  have  the 
minds  of  pedlars  and  merchants  who  act  like 
princes.  In  this  expansion  of  the  political 
horizon  the  citizens  of  both  countries  would 
e(iually  share,  but  Mr,  Carnegie  does  not  discuss 
the  fact  that  the  balance  of  advantage  would 
lie  with  the  British,  for  the  leadership  of  the 
United  States  is  secure.  Whether  reunion  is 
effected  or  abandoned  as  an  impossible  dream, 
it  will  not  affect  the  headship  of  the  United 
States.  The  American  will  easily  be  the  first 
Power  in  the  world.  But  for  the  Motherland  it 
is  otherwise.     Mr.  Carnegie  wrote  : — 

"  The  only  course  for  Britain  seems  to  be 
re-union  with  her  giant  child  or  sure  decline  to 


a  secondary  place,  and  then  to  comparative 
insignificance  in  the  future  annals  of  the  English- 
speaking  race.  What  great  difference  would  it 
make  to  Wales,  Ireland,  and  Scotland  if  their 
representatives  to  the  Supreme  Council  should 
proceed  to  Washington  instead  of  to  London  ? 
Yet  this  is  all  the  change  that  would  be  required, 
and  for  this  they  would  have  ensured  to  them 
all  the  rights  of  independence." 

Nevertheless,  he  thinks  the  idea  would  be 
received  with  even  more  enthusiasm  in  the 
United  States  than  in  the  United  Kingdom. 
"  The  reunion  idea,"  said  he,  "  would  be  hailed 
with  enthusiasm  in  the  United  States.  No  idea 
yet  promulgated  since  the  formation  of  the 
Union  would  create  such  unalloyed  satisfaction. 
It  would  sweep  the  country.  No  party  would 
oppose  ;  each  would  try  to  excel  the  other  in 
approval." 

Surveying  the  whole  situation,  Mr.  Carnegie 
came  to  the  conclusion  eight  years  ago  that  the 
causes  of  continued  disunion  which  admittedly 
exist  in  England  are  rapidly  vanishing  and  are 
melting  away  like  snow  in  the  sunshine.  Canada, 
the  United  States,  and  Ireland  were  even  then 
ready  for  reunion,  and  no  serious  difficulty 
existed  either  in  Scotland  or  in  Wales.  He 
thought  that  in  England,  Ireland,  Scotland  and 
Wales  a  proposition  to  make  all  othcials  elected 
by  the  people  after  the  Queen  had  passed  away 
would  command  a  heavy  vote. 

In  1898,  when  I  had  an  opportunity  of  dis- 
cussing the  matter  with  him,  he  was  so  confident 
that  the  reunion  was  practicable,  that  he  had 
modified  his  views  in  many  directions.  When 
he  had  first  launched  the  idea  he  regarded  it  as 
necessary  for  the  British  people  to  abjure  their 
monarchy,  their  hereditary  peerage,  their 
Established  Church,  and  to  do  away  with 
their  Indian  Empire,  and  as  a  preliminary  to 
reunion  he  had  contemplated  a  declaration  of 
independence  on  the  part  of  Canada,  Australia, 
and  South  Africa.  In  1898  he  recognised  that 
such  a  drastic  process  of  demolition  and  dis- 
integration was  not  the  necessary  preliminary  to 
reunion.  He  thought  it  was  quite  possible  that 
special  provision  might  be  made  for  the  admis- 
sion of  monarchical  States  into  the  British- 
American  Union.  He  still  clung  to  his  idea  of 
the  admission  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  into 
the  Union.  They  would,  he  said,  cut  up  into 
eight  States,  with  an  average  of  five  millions 
each  in  population.  This  is  considerably  more 
than  the  average  of  the  American  States,  but  it 
is  less  than  the  population  of  Pennsylvania  and 
New  York.  It  is  well  that  Mr.  Carnegie  should 
have  modified  his  views  so  far  as  to  admit  that 
the  British  race  might  assent  to  a  reunion  with- 
out being  compelled  as  a  preliminary  to  abjure 
their  distinctive  peculiarities. 


156 


The  Americaidsation  of  the  World. 


Upon  this  point  Cobden,  in  his  well-known 
pamphlet  "England,  Ireland,  and  America," 
which  was  published  in  the  spring  of  1835, 
said  some  words  which  are  worth  while  re- 
membering and  quoting  in  this  connection. 
"Writing  immediately  after  his  return  from  his 
first  visit  to  the  United  States,  he  declared"  that 
he  fervently  believed  **  that  our  only  chance 
of  national  prosperity  lies  in  the  timely  re- 
modelling of  our  system,  so  as  to  put  it  as 
nearly  as  possible  upon  an  equality  with  the 
improved  management  of  the  Americans."  But, 
he  went  on,  "let  us  not  be  misconstrued.  We 
do  not  advocate  Republican  institutions  for  this 
country ;  we  believe  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  to  be  at  this  moment  the  best  in 
the  world,  but  then  the  Americans  are  the  best 
people,  individually  and  nationally.  As  indi- 
viduals because  in  our  opinion  the  people  that 
are  the  best  educated  must,  morally  and 
religiously  speaking,  be  the  best.  As  a  nation, 
because  it  is  the  only  great  community  that  has 
never  waged  war  except  in  absolute  self-defence, 
the  only  one  which  has  never  made  a  conquest  of 
territory  by  force  of  arms ;  because  it  is  the 
only  nation  whose  government  has  never  had 
occasion  to  employ  the  army  to  defend  it  against 
the  people  :  the  only  one  which  has  never  had 
one  of  its  citizens  convicted  of  treason,  and 
because  it  is  the  only  country  that  has  honour- 
ably discharged  its  public  debt.  Those  who 
argue  in  favour  of  a  Republic  in  lieu  of  a  mixed 
Monarchy  for  Britain  are,  we  suspect,  ignorant  of 
the  genius  of  their  countrymen.  Democracy 
forms  no  element  in  the  material  of  English 
character.  An  Englishman  is  from  his  mother's 
womb  an  aristocrat.  The  insatiable  love  of 
caste  that  in  England,  as  in  Hindustan,  devours 
all  hearts,  is  confined  to  no  walks  of  society, 
but  pervades  every  degree  from  the  highest  to 
the  lowest.  No ;  whatever  changes  in  the 
course  of  time  education  may  and  will  effect, 
we  do  not  believe  that  England  at  this  moment 
contains  even  the  germs  of  genuine  Repub- 
licanism. We  do  not,  then,  advocate  the 
adoption  of  democratic  institutions  for  such  a 
people." 

Nearly  seventy  years  have  passed  since  then, 
and  we  have  had  nearly  thirty  years  of  popular 
education;  but  there  is  so  much  truth  in  Mr. 
Cobden's  somewhat  pessimistic  observations, 
that  any  scheme  which  necessitated  the  repudia- 
tion of  aristocratic  distinctions  or  monarchial 
inic-d-brac  would  be  fatal  to  the  scheme  of 
reunion.  John  Bull  would  have  to  experience 
a  new  birth  before  he  could  qualify  as  an 
entirely  regenerated  citizen  of  the  American 
Republic.  He  must  be  allowed  to  retain  his 
plush-breeched  and  powdered  footmen,  his 
Lord  Mayor's  coach,  and  all  the  paraphernalia 


and  trappings  of  monarchy  and  peerage,  if  only 
to  enable  him  to  feel  at  home  in  a  cold,  cold 
world,  and  cultivate  that  spirit  of  condescension 
towards  Americans  which  is  his  sole  remaining 
consolation. 

At  the  same  time,  it  is  well  to  remember  that 
notwithstanding  Cobden's  estimate  of  the  anti- 
republican  character  of  his  own  countrymen, 
the  natives  of  these  islands,  when  once  they  leave 
their  native  land,  never  establish  anything  but 
what  is  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  Republican 
system  of  government  Sir  Walter  Besant,  when 
discussing  the  future  of  the  race,  dwelt  much 
upon  the  significance  of  the  fact  that,  while  all 
the  States  that  have  come  out  of  Great  Britain 
have  had  to  create  their  own  form  of  govern- 
ment, ever^'one  has  become  practically  a  Re- 
public, yet  while  all  the  Colonies  are  virtually 
Republican,  the  Mother  Country  is  less  Repub- 
lican than  she  was  twenty  years  ago.  In  the 
Colonies,  with  every  generation,  the  Republican 
idea  becomes  intensified,  and  this,  he  thought, 
would,  as  there  was  no  corresponding  trend  of 
opinion  in  the  Mother  Country  towards  Repub- 
licanism, inevitably  result  in  separation.  For, 
as  he  said,  if  the  English  Government  remains 
what  it  is,  and  the  English  Colonies  become 
more  and  more  obstinately  Republican,  there 
will  most  certainly  exist  a  permanent  cleavage 
between  them  growing  every  year  wider  and 
wider. 

He  was  so  much  convinced  of  this  that  in  his 
forecast  of  the  ftiture  he  calmly  counted  upon 
the  disruption  of  the  Empire  as  a  preliminary  to 
the  federation  of  the  race. 

But  in  that  case  we  could  separate  only  in 
order  to  reunite,  and  the  basis  would  be  wide 
enough  to  afford  space  for  the  United  States  in 
the  centre  of  the  group.  It  is  probable  that 
Canada  and  Australia  and  South  Africa  would 
find  it  easier  to  coalesce  with  the  United  States 
than  with  the  United  Kingdom.  But  the 
political  institutions  of  the  United  Kingdom 
itself  are  likely  to  undergo  considerable  changes 
in  the  direction  of  Americanisation. 

Few  subjects  afford  more  interesting  matter 
for  discussion  and  speculation  than  the  steps 
which  would  be  taken  by  the  Americans  if  they 
were  placed  in  Charge  of  the  administration  of 
the  British  Empire,  with  a  contract  to  reorganise 
it  upon  American  principles.  Dr.  Albert  Shaw 
nine  years  ago  addressed  himself  to  the  con- 
sideration of  this  question  in  the  pages  of  the 
Contemporary  Review,  with  characteristic  intre- 
pidity and  plain-spokenness.  Home  Rule 
seemed  to  him,  as  it  does  to  all  Americans,  the 
very  first  step  towards  clearing  the  situation  for 
entrance  upon  a  large  and  worthy  Imperial 
policy ;  and  he  did  not  mince  his  words  as  to 
the    silly  sophistries    and    general    stupidities 


A  Look  Ahead. 


157 


which  did  ser/ice  as  arguments  against  allowing 
the  Irish  people  to  manage  purely  Irish  affairs . 
in  Ireland. 

"  If,"  said  he,  "  Americans  were  to  take  the 
contract  for   reorganising  the   British    Empire, 
they  would  lose  no  time  in  telegraphing  for  the 
strong  men  of  both  Canadian  parties,  for  Mr. 
Rhodes,  Mr.  Hofmeyer,  and  the  other  empire- 
builders  of  South  Africa,  for  the   experienced 
and  staunch  politicians  of  the  Australian  States, 
and    for    Englishmen    everywhere    who    were 
actually  engaged  in  maintaining  British  supre- 
macy.    After  a  Conference,   they  would  draw 
up  certain  tentative  proposals,  and  call  an  Im- 
perial  Convention  to  draft  a  final   scheme  of 
Federation.     This  scheme  should  provide  for  a 
true  Imperial  Parliament,  to  take  over  from  the 
existing  local  parliaments  of  the  United  Kingdom 
all  Imperial  business.    It  would  place  the  Navy, 
the  army,  and  the  postal  service  upon  an  Im- 
perial basis.     It  would  establish  absolute  free 
trade  between  all  parts  of  the  Empire,  although 
it  might  allow  certain  parts  to  maintain  differen- 
tial tariffs  against  non-British  tariffs.     It  would 
allow  Ireland  Home  Rule,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
subject  not  to  the  United  Kingdom  but  to  the 
British    Empire.     With    such    an   Empire    the 
Americans  would   have  no  occasion   for  con- 
troversy.    The  frictions  that  have  endangered 
the  relations  of  Great  Britain  and  America  in 
recent  years  have  grown  out  of  the  mischiev- 
ously anomalous  political  situation  of  Canada. 
A  unified  Imperial  economic  system  might  soon 
lead  to  a  Reciprocity  Treaty  between  the  two 
English-speaking  Federations  that  would  hasten 
the  advent  of  the  Universal  Free  Trade  that  all 
intelligent  Protectionists  anticipate  and  desire." 
Whatever  the  British  reader  may  think  of  Dr. 
Shaw's  outline  of  the  reconstitution  of  our  Con- 
stitution, there   are   an   increasing   number   of 
people  in  this  country  who  would  be  very  glad 
indeed  to  see  some  very  radical  changes  intro- 
duced with   a  view  of  restoring   efficiency    to 
Parliament  and  securing  the  Federation  of  the 
Empire.    But  we  must  not  stray  further  in  these 
speculative  regions. 


Chapter  III. — Steps  towards  Reunion. 

It  may  be  admitted  by  all,  even  those  who  are 
least  favourable  to  the  idea  of  complete  reunion, 
that  it  would  be  well  to  keep  the  ideal  of  reunion 
before  our  eyes,  if  only  in  order  to  minimise 
points  of  friction  and  to  promote  co-operation 
in  the  broad  field  in  which  our  interests  are 
identical.  Even  if  we  cannot  have  the  reunion, 
we  might  have  the  race  alliance.  This  being 
the  case,  we  may  devote  the  concluding  chapter 


in  this  book  to  a  discussion  of  some  of  the 
suggestions  which  have  been  made  for  the 
promotion  of  a  sense  of  race  unity,  whether  or 
not  we  regard  the  ultimate  goal  as  one  that  is 
within  the  reach  of  ourselves  or  of  our 
descendants. 

As  a  starting-point  in  this  inquiry,  it  is  well 
to  quote  the  familiar  passage  from  Wasliington's 
farewell  address  to  the  American  people  :  "  The 
great  rule  of  conduct  for  us  in  regard  to  foreign 
nations,  is  in  extending  our  commercial  relations, 
to  have  with  them  as  little  political  connections 
as  possible."  The  advice  is  sound,  but  it  must 
not  be  read  as  equivalent  to  an  interdict  upon 
all  political  connection  whatever.  All  that 
Washington  said  was,  "  as  little  political  connec- 
tion as  possible."  Now  the  irreducible  minimum 
of  the  eighteenth  century  is  quite  impossible  in 
the  twentieth  century,  when  politics  and  com- 
merce are  inextricably  intermingled.  A  policy 
of  isolation  is  denied  to  China,  and  is  even 
unthinkable  in  relation  to  the  United  States  of 
America.  At  the  same  time  the  general  prin- 
ciple is  sound.  The  fewer  points  there  are  of 
political  contact  the  less  risk  is  there  of  political 
collision.  Whatever  federation,  alliance,  or 
reunion  may  ultimately  be  effected,  it  is  a 
condition  sine  qua  non  that  each  member  of 
the  federation  sliali*  retain  freedom  of  national 
self-government,  and  unrestricted  sovereignty 
to  do  exactly  as  he  pleases  in  every  department 
excepting  those  which  are  specifically  sur- 
rendered to  the  central  authority.  As  Mr. 
Carnegie  says  :  "  Each  member  must  be  free  to 
manage  his  own  home  as  he  thinks  proper, 
without  incurring  hostile  criticism  or  parental 
interference.  All  must  be  equal,  allies,  not 
dependents." 

A  good  deal  may  be  done,  and  a  good  deal  is 
being  done  already,  though  a  good  deal  more' 
might  be  done  towards  the  cultivation  of  the 
sentiment  of  race  unity.  One  of  the  most 
simple  and  obvious  suggestions  which  to  some 
extent  has  been  acted  upon  of  late  years,  has 
been  the  celebration  of  the  Fourth  of  July 
outside  the  area  of  the  United  States  of 
America.  The  practice  of  hoisting  flags  on  the 
birthday  of  the  American  Republic  has  been 
gaining  ground  in  Great  Britain,  and  here  and 
there  Britons  have  begun  to  set  apart  the 
sacred  Fourth  of  July  as  Vifete  day  of  the  race. 
But  the  proposal  to  adopt  the  Fourth  as  the 
common  fete  day  of  the  race  would  be  more 
than  the  ordinary  British  subject  could  tolerate, 
at  least  just  yet.  As  year  after  year  passes,  he 
will  come  to  celebrate  the  Fourth  heartily  and 
ungrudgingly;  but  if  there  is  to  be  a  common 
fete  day  of  the  race,  it  should  commemorate 
the  day  of  reunion  rather  than  the  day  of 
separation.     It  would  be  easy  to  lose  ourselves 


158 


The  Americanisatimi  of  the   World. 


in  premature  discussion  as  to  \kitfete  day  which 
would  meet  with  the  most  general  acceptance 
both  in  the  Empire  and  in  the  Republic. 
Shakespeare's  birthday  is  one  suggestion;  the 
day  of  the  signature  of  Magna  Charta  is 
another;  but  no  suggestion  that  has  yet  been 
made  seems  likely  to  command  so  much  sup- 
port as  the  proposal  to  set  apart  the  Third  of 
September  as  Reunion  Day.  On  the  3rd  Sep- 
tember, 1783,  the  King  and  Government  of 
Great  Britain,  in  the  midst  of  acclamations  and 
rejoicings  of  the  peoples  on  both  sides  of 
the  Atlantic,  acknowledged  the  independence 
which  had  been  claimed  on  the  Fourth  of  July, 
and  made  peace  with  all  the  countries  that 
had  been  involved  in  the  great  controversy. 
On  that  day  Great  Britain  publicly  acknowledged 
that  her  first-born  son  had  reached  a  man's 
estate,  and  was  fully  entitled  to  rank  as  a  nation 
among  the  nations.  It  was  the  first  day  that 
the  divided  race  celebrated  together  the  pact 
of  peace.  The  3rd  September  is  also  a  famous 
day  in  British  annals.  It  was  Cromwell's  great 
day,  the  day  of  Dunbar  and  of  Worcester, 
the  day  on  which  he  opened  his  Parliaments,  the 
day  on  which  he  passed  into  the  presence  of  his 
Maker.  Cromwell,  the  common  hero  of  both 
-sections  of  the  race,  summoned  his  first  Parlia- 
ment on  the  4th  July,  and  his  inaugural  address 
was  the  first  Fourth  of  July  oration  that  was 
ever  delivered.  It  was  instinct  with  the  con- 
viction of  the  reality  of  the  providential  mission 
of  the  Englsh-speaking  race.  In  his  own 
words  :  "  We  have  our  desire  to  seek  healing 
and  looking  forward  than  to  rake  into  sores  and 
look  backwards." 

Many  suggestions  have  been  made  as  to  the 
outward  and  visible  sign  by  which  the  approxi- 
mation of  the  two  races  could  be  symbolised  to 
mankind.  When  Earl  Grey,  in  1896,  was  going 
out  to  the  Cape  to  take  up  the  Government  of 
Rhodesia,  he  noticed  on  the  arm  of  a  steward 
in  the  Diinottar  Castle  a  somewhat  curious 
tattoed  device,  with  the  description  of  "  Hands 
all  round."  On  asking  to  look  at  it  more 
closely,  he  found  that  there  was  a  ship  in  full 
sail  in  the  centre,  with  a  device  of  flags,  one  the 
Union  Jack,  the  other  that  of  New  South  Wales. 
The  motto  seemed  so  apposite  that  he  copied 
the  design  from  the  sailor  s  arm,  and  sent  it  on 
to  me  with  the  suggestion  that  "  this  might 
serve  as  an  outward  and  visible  sign  of  the 
uniiy  of  the  race."  By  substituting  a  mail 
steamer  for  the  full-rigged  sailing-ship,  and  re- 
placing the  flag  of  New  South  Wales  by  the  Stars 
and  Stripes,  ihe  resulting  escutcheon  may  be 
commended  for  consideration  to  the  citizens  of 
both  countries. 

One  thing  that  might  be  done  and  that  at 
Qnce  would  be  the  publication  of  more  American 


news  in  the  English  papers.  I  do  not  refer  so 
much  to  telegrams,  inadequate  as  our  service 
is  from  the  other  side,  but  I  refer  rather  to  the 
publication  of  special  articles  dealing  with  the 
immense  multiplicity  of  matters  of  interest  with 
which  the  American  newspapers  are  crowded. 
The  Americans  are  much  better  informed  con- 
cerning English  affairs  tlian  we  are  concerning 
the  social,  industrial  and  scientific  movements 
of  the  United  States.  The  news  that  reaches 
us  from  America  is  almost  entirely  confined 
to  market  quotations  and  political  elections. 
The  electoral  struggles  between  parties  in  either 
country  are  as  a  rule  the  most  uninteresting 
items  of  news  that  could  be  chronicled  in 
the  other. 

*  When  I  was  in  Chicago,  seven  years  ago,  I 
was  much  impressed  by  the  immense  superiority 
of  the  European  news  service  of  the  Chicago 
papers  to  the  American  news  service  of  the 
London  papers.  The  Chicago  citizen  on  Sunday 
morning  would  find  as  a  rule  three  special 
correspondents'  letters  from  London,  one  from 
Paris,  and  one  from  Berlin,  telegraphed  the 
previous  night,  each  of  the  length  of  a  column 
or  more,  giving  a  very  intelligent,  i  brightly 
written  sketch  of  the  history  of  the  week. 
We  have  nothing  approaching  to  that  from 
the  other  side  in  any  of  our  English  papers. 
I  remember  taking  note,  for  six  months  after  I 
came  from  Chicago,  of  all  the  items  of  Chicago 
news  that  appeared  in  the  English  papers.  I 
think  in  the  six  months  there  was  only  one 
telegram,  which  gave  a  brief  and  misleading 
account  of  a  regulation  said  to  have  been  adopted 
by  the  City  Fathers  against  the  use  of  bloomers 
by  lady  cyclists  in  the  city  parks.  That  was 
literally  the  only  item  of  information  which 
reached  this  countiy  concerning  the  life  of  the 
second  greatest  city  in  the  United  States.  There 
is  no  disinclination  on  the  part  of  the  British 
public  to  read  American  news.  The  fault  lies 
solely  with  those  who  purvey  it 

Passing  from  matters  which  lie  within  the 
scope  of  private  enterprise  and  individual 
initiative,  we  come  to  the  proposal  made  some 
time  ago  by  Mr.  Dicey  and  strongly  supported 
in  other  quarters  for  the  adoption  of  a  mutual 
agreement  between  the  Governments  of  the  two 
countries  for  the  proclamation  of  a  common 
citizenship,  so  that  every  subject  of  the  King 
should  become  a  citizen  of  the  United  States 
and  every  citizen  of  the  United  States  should 
become  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  enjoyed  by 
a  British  subject  in  whatever  part  of  the  world 
he  may  happen  to  live.  Mr.  Dicey  put  his 
suggestion  in  a  very  concrete  shape.  He 
said : — 

"My  proposal  is  summarily  this  :  That  England  and 
the  United  States  should,  by  concurrent  and  appropriate 


Steps  Towards  Reunion, 


159 


legislation,  create  such  a  common  citizenship,  or,  to  put 
the  matter  in  a  more  concrete  and  therefore  in  a  more 
intelligible  form,  that  an  Act  of  the  Imperial  Parliament 
should  make  every  citizen  of  the  United  States,  during 
the  continuance  of  peace  between  England  and  America, 
a  British  subject,  anil  that  simultaneously  an  Act  of 
Congress  should  make  every  British  subject,  during  the 
continuance  of  such  peace,  a  citizen  of  the  United  States. 
The  coming  into  force  of  the  one  Act  wonld  be  depen- 
dent upon  the  passing  and  coming  into  force  of  the  otner. 
Should  war  at  any  time  break  out  between  the  two 
countries,  each  Act  would  ipso  facto  cease  to  have 
<fiect.  .  .  . 

"  My  proposal  is  not  designed  to  limit  the  complete 
national  independence  either  of  England  or  of  the  United 
States.  There  would,  for  the  foundation  of  a  common 
citizenship,  be  no  need  for  any  revolution,  even  of  a 
legal  kind,  in  the  Constitution  cither  of  England  or  of 
the  United  States.  Community  of  citizenship  would 
affect  not  civil,  but  political  rights.  If  the  Acts  creating 
isopolity  were  passed,  a  citizen  of  the  United  States 
would,  on  the  necessary  conditions  being  fulfilled,  be 
able  to  vote  for  a  member  of  Parliament,  to  sit  in 
Parliament,  and,  if  fortune  favoured,  become  a  Cabinet 
Minister  or  a  Premier.  Pie  might  aspire,  did  his 
ambition  lead  in  that  direction,  to  the  House  of  Lords. 
So,  on  the  other  hand,  a  British  subject,  to  whom 
American  citizenship  has  been  extended,  might,  on  the 
necessary  conditions  being  fulfilled,  vote  for  a  member  of 
(Congress,  become  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, or  even  a  Senator.  .   .  . 

"  The  immediate  results,  indeed,  of  a  common  citizen- 
ship would  be  small,  but,  as  far  as  they  went,  they  would 
all  be  good.  ...  It  would,  further,  be  an  unspeakable 
advantage  that  this  sense  of  unity  should  be  proclaimed 
to  the  whole  world.  The  declaration  of  isopoliiy  would 
be  an  announcement  which  no  foreign  State  could 
legitimately  blame  or  wisely  overlook — that  men  of 
English  descent  in  England  and  America  alike  were 
determined  to  safeguard  the  future  prosperity  of  the 
whole  English  people." 

This  would  obviate  the  necessity  of  any 
abjuring  of  nationality  when  Americans  came  to 
Great  Britain  or  when  British  subjects  settled 
in  the  United  States.  A  form  of  declaration 
could  easily  be  drawn  up,  which  would  be 
equivalent  to  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  either  the 
Republic  or  to  the  Crown,  and  which  would 
not  in  the  least  impair  the  original  allegiance 
due  to  the  country  in  which  any  one  was  born. 
As  Americans  are  likely  to  settle  in  increasing 
numbers  in  this  country,  they  are  more  likely  to 
xippreciate  the  advantage  of  such  an  arrange- 
ment than  they  would  have  been  at  a  time 
when  the  migration  was  all  the  other  way. 
They  are  also  likely  to  appreciate  the  advantage 
of  such  an  arrangement  more  keenly  the  more 
widely  they  scatter  in  foreign  lands.  The  more 
America  expands,  the  more  handy  will  it  be 
for  the  American  citizen  to  avail  himself  of 
'the  services  of  the  British  Consul  or  British 
Ambassador  wherever  he  may  be.  After  a 
time,  indeed,  it  might  be  possible  largely  to 
avoid  the  duplication  of  diplomatic  and  consular 
staffs.  But  that  is  a  long  way  off,  and  need 
not  be  considered  now.  Every  American  or 
British  citizen  could  avail  himself  of  the  help 


of  two  officials,  instead  of  one,  and  in  like 
manner  he  could  rely  upon  the  support  of  the 
fleets  of  both  nations  for  the  punishment  of  any 
high-handed  wrong  inflicted  upon  him  in  any 
part  of  the  world.  In  the  Cuban  War  the  pro- 
tection of  American  interests  in  Spain  was 
entrusted  to  British  diplomacy,  and  in  the  South 
Afriain  Republics  to  the  American  Consul  at 
Pretoria.  This  arrangement  worked  excellently, 
and  there  is  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be 
carried  a  step  farther. 

We  now  come  to  consider  whether  anything 
can  be  done  to  assimilate  the  laws  of  the  two 
countries  so  far  as  they  relate  to  those  subjects 
which  are  of  international  interest,  such  as 
copyright,  trade-mark,  marriage  and  divorce, 
patents,  &c.  The  first  practical  step  towards 
bringing  the  Empire  and  the  Republic  into 
organic  relations  with  each  other  would  be, 
according  to  Mr.  Carnegie's  idea : — 

"  The  appointment  by  the  various  nations  of  our  race  of 
International  Commissions  charged  with  creating  a  system 
of  weights,  measures,  and  coins,  of  port  dues,  patents,  and 
other  matters  of  similar  character,  which  are  of  common 
interest.  If  there  be  a  question  upon  which  all  autho- 
rities are  agreed,  it  is  the  desirability  of  introducing  the 
decimal  system  of  weights,  measures,  and  coins  :  but  an 
International  Commission  seems  the  only  agency  capable 
of  bringing  it  about." 

After  this  was  done,  Mr.  Carnegie  thinks  that 
a  *'  General  Council  should  be  evolved  by  the 
English-speaking  nations,  to  which  may  at  first 
only  be  referred  all  questions  of  dispute  between 
them. 

"  Building  upon  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  may  we  not  expect  that  a  still  higher  Supreme 
Court  is  one  day  to  come,  which  shall  judge  between  the 
nations  of  the  entire  English-speaking  race  as  the 
Supreme  Court  at  Washington  already  judges  between 
States  which  contain  the  majority  of  the  race?  The 
powers  and  duties  of  such  a  Council  once  established 
may  be  safely  trusted  to  increase.  To  its  final  influence 
over  the  race,  and  through  the  race  over  the  world,  no 
limit  can  be  set.  In  the  dim  future  it  might  even  come 
that  the  pride  of  the  citizen  in  the  race  as  a  whole  would 
exceed  that  which  he  had  in  any  part  thereof,  as  the 
citizen  of  the  Republic  to-day  is  prouder  of  being  an 
American  than  he  is  of  being  a  native  of  any  State  in  the 
Union." 

Once  establish  a  Court  competent  to  give 
judgment  upon  specified  questions,  they  would 
be  settled  without  any  necessity  for  passing 
them  through  diplomatic  channels.  Appeal 
would  be  made  to  the  Court  direct.  Questions 
coming  before  the  Court  should  be  divided  into 
categories.  The  first  would  include  all  ques- 
tions dealing  with  inventions,  treaties,  (S:c.,  which 
would  be  decided  upon  strictly  legal  lines.  The 
foreign  offices  of  the  two  countries  would  no 
more  think  of  interfering  with  the  settlement 
of  such  questions  than  the  Secretary  of  State  at 
Washington  would  think  of  preventing  an  appeal 


i6o 


The  Americanisatio7t  of  the   World. 


to  the  Supreme  Court.  The  second  category- 
would  cover  ordinary  disputes  now  dealt  with 
by  diplomacy.  If  diplomacy  failed,  a  special 
arbitrator  might  be  appointed  to  deal  with 
special  cases.  Supposing  that  we  succeed  in 
establishing  the  principle  of  common  citizen- 
ship, and  international  conventions  governing 
our  international  relations  on  the  lines  suggested 
by  Mr.  Carnegie,  it  might  be  well  to  stop 
there,  and  not  carry  the  principle  further  at 
present.  But  if  we  ever  get  so  far,  we  shall  go 
further. 

Few  things  are  more  certain  than  that  there 
will  be  a  great  slump  in  the  principle  of  Pro- 
tection. The  country  which  can  produce  more 
cheaply  than  its  neighbour  will  not  be  long  in 
recognising  the  necessity  of  the  principle  of 
free  trade.  Already  the  most  absolute  free 
trade  prevails  between  all  the  States  and  terri- 
tories composing  the  American  Union.  It  is 
not  inconceivable  that  the  area  of  free  trade 
may  in  time  be  extended,  not  only  to  the  United 
States,  but  to  all  the  countries  inhabited  by  an 
English-speaking  race. 

There  remains  the  question  of  whether  there 
should  be  an  alliance,  offensive  or  defensive, 
between  the  two  States.  When  the  United 
States  was  engaged  in  the  war  with  Spain,  the 
Americans  relied  very  confidently  upon  the  sup- 
port of  Great  Britain,  and  to  this  day  the  belief 
is  firmly  fixed  in  the  minds  of  the  majority  of 
the  American  people  that  the  British  Govern- 
ment went  a  great  deal  further  than  was  actually 
the  case  in  threatening  to  ally  its  fleet  with  that 
of  the  United  States  if  the  European  Powers 
ventured  to  intervene  on  behalf  of  Spain.  The 
Americans  rightly  shrink  from  any  entangling 
alliances  with  Great  Britain  which  would  involve 
them  in  an  obligation  to  sacrifice  the  benefits  of 
peace  whenever  a  hot-headed  English  minister 
chose  to  quarrel  with  Russia,  or  any  other 
European  Power.  But  alliances  between 
nations  are  capable  of  infinite  degrees  of  in- 
timacy. For  instance,  the  Franco-Russian 
alliance,  leaves  each  Power  absolutely  free 
to  conduct  its  own  foreign  policy  and  to  make 
its  own  wars  without  involving  the  other  in  any 
obligation  to  depart  from  the  policy  of  neutrality. 
The  Franco-Russian  arrangement  provided  that 
if  either  France  or  Russia  is  attacked  by  two 
Powers,  the  other  party  to  the  alliance  is  bound 
to  assist  its  ally  ;  but  if  Germany  attacked  Russia, 
Fnince  would  be  under  no  obligation  to  draw 
the  sword,  unless  Germany  were  backed  up 
by  Austria.  In  that  case,  France  would  have 
to  enter  the  field.  In  like  manner,  if  Germany 
attacked  France,  Russia  would  be  under  no 
obligation  to  interfere  unless  another  Power 
joined  Germany.  This  represents  a  form  of 
alliance  which  secures  both  parties  against  an 


attack  by  a  coalition  without  entailing  any 
obligation  upon  either  to  assist  the  other  in  case 
of  a  single-handed  war  or  a  war  of  aggression. 

Mr.  Arthur  White,  writing  in  the  North 
American  Review  for  April,  1894,  suggested  the 
following  draft  of  the  terms  of  an  Anglo-American 
Alliance  : — 

"  Great  Britain  shall  become  an  ally  of  the 
United  States  in  the  event  of  any  European 
Power  or  Powers  declaring  war  against  the  latter. 
On  the  other  harid,  the  United  States  shall 
guarantee  friendly  neutrality  in  the  event  of 
Great  Britain  becoming  involved  in  war  with 
one  or  more  of  the  European  Powers,  concerning 
issues  that  in  no  way  concern  the  Pacific  interests 
of  the  United  States,  and  in  that  case  the  United 
States  shall  render  to  Great  Britain  every 
assistance,  positive  and  negative,  allowed  to 
neutrals." 

The  Triple  Alliance  is  closer  than  that  be- 
tween France  and  Russia,  but  still  it  is  an 
alliance  with  limited  liability. 

The  question  as  to  whether  it  is  possible  for 
a  race  alliance  to  be  formed  between  the  various 
members  of  the  English-speaking  federation, 
which  would  leave  each  member  free  to  pursue 
its  own  foreign  policy,  while  securing  each 
against  an  attack  from  a  coalition,  has  been  the 
subject  of  very  thoughtful  discussion  by  Mr. 
Stevenson,  who,  however,  was  thinking  not  so 
much  of  an  alliance  between  the  Republic  and 
the  Empire  as  of  the  familiar  idea  of  an  alliance 
between  Great  Britain  and  her  self-governing 
colonies.  Mr.  Stevenson,  foreseeing  a  time 
when  the  Commonwealth  of  Australia  will  wish 
to  pursue  its  own  foreign  policy  in  the  Pacific, 
asks :  Is  it  possible  to  gratify  the  desire  of  an 
independent  colony  to  pursue  a  foreign  policy 
without  at  the  same  time  compelling  the  mother 
country  to  support  such  foreign  policy  by  the 
armies  and  navies  of  Great  Britain  ?  He  main- 
tained that  it  was  quite  possible.  He  expressed 
his  approval  of  such  an  alliance  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  self-governing  colonies,  whereby 
they  could  make  peace  or  war  of  their  own 
accord,  without  endangering  the  mother  country 
or  the  colonies.  His  suggestion,  was  very 
ingenious.  He  proposed  that  when  the  great 
self-governing  colonies  should  arrive  at  man's 
estate,  they  should  be  allowed  each  in  its  own 
zone  to  act  as  independent  and  sovereign  States 
in  making  peace  or  war,  and  in  concluding 
treaties,  commercial  or  othenvise,  with  their 
neighbours.  In  place  of  the  Empire,  he  would 
substitute  a  Solemn  League  and  Covenant,  by 
which  each  member  of  the  Imperial  Union 
would  be  free  either  to  make  common  cause 
with  any  of  the  other  members  of  the  Union, 
should  they  embark  upon  war,  or  should  be  not 
less  free  to  declare  their  neutrality.     The  bond 


Steps  Towards  Reunion. 


i6i 


between  the  English-speaking  nations  would  be 
reduced  to  an  obligation  to  guarantee  the  home 
lands  of  the  race  against  foreign  conquest,  and  a 
joint  guarantee  by  each  and  all  of  the  right  to 
neutrality.  This  would  work  in  practice  some- 
what as  follows : — If  the  Solemn  League  and 
Covenant  had  been  substituted  for  the  Imperial 
tie,  Canada  would  be  free  to  attack  France,  if 
she  refused  to  settle  the  French  shore  difficulty 
in  a  manner  satisfactory  to  Newfoundland.  No 
other  State  in  the  League  would  be  under  any 
obligation  to  help  Canada,  which  could  make 
war  or  peace  with  France  on  her  own  account. 
But  if  France,  refusing  to  recognise  this  neutrality, 
were  to  attack  Australia  or  the  United  Kingdom, 
every  other  member  of  the  League  would  be 
bound  to  make  common  cause  against  France 
in  order  to  vindicate  the  right  of  neutrality. 
Supposing  France,  recognising  the  declaration 
of  neutrality,  nevertheless  defeated  Canada  and 
attempted  to  annex  Canadian  territory,  by 
riglit  of  conquest,  then  all  the  other  members  of 
the  League  would  be  bound  to  make  war  o.i 
France  to  compel  her  to  confine  her  compensa- 
tion to  financial  indemnity.  The  two  great 
basic  principles  of  the  League  would  be  the 
mutually  guaranteed  right  of  neutrality  and  the 
mutual  guarantee  of  the  inviolability  of  all 
the  territory  occupied  by  the  l-^nglish-speaking 
peoples. 

Twenty  years  ago  Senator  Lamar  said  : 
"  Whenever  America  is  in  need  of  allies,  I  will 
tell  you  what  will  hap])en.  Some  wise  British 
statesman  will  suggest  an  Anglo-Saxon  League, 
something  akin  to  the  League  in  Europe  when 
Henry  IV.  ruled  France.  This  will  not  be  an 
alliance  offensive  and  defensive." 

Mr.  Secretary  Hay  declared  in  1897  that :  "  It 
is  a  sanction  like  that  of  religion  which  binds  us 
to  a  sort  of  partnership  in  the  beneficent  work 
of  the  world.  Whether  we  will  it  or  not,  we  are 
associated  in  that  work  by  the  very  nature  of 
things,  and  no  man  and  no  group  of  men  can 
prevent  it.  We  are  bound  by  a  tie  which  we 
did  not  forge,  and  which  we  cannot  break.  We 
are  joint  ministers  of  the  same  sacred  mission  of 
liberty  and  progress,  charged  with  duties  which 
we  cannot  evade  by  the  imposition  of  irresistible 
hands." 

If  the  reunion  of  the  race  is  written  in  the 
book  of  Destiny,  then  in  vain  do  we  strive 
against  it.  The  benefits  likely  to  accrue  to  the 
world  from  such  a  reunion  are  naturally  more 
obvious  to  the  English-speaking  communities 
than  to  those  which  live  outside  the  pale.  But 
one  of  the  strongest  expressions  of  sympathy 
with  the  aspiration  of  tlie  race  for  a  higher  unity 
came  from  a  foreign  observer,  who,  under  the 
name  of  Nauticus,  contributed  a  notable  article 
on   the   subject   to  the  Fortnightly   Rcvlnv  in 


1894.  He  deplored  the  schism  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain  on  the  ground 
that  it  divided  and  weakened  the  expression  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  will,  for  he  declared  himselr 
persuaded  that  this  Anglo-Saxon  will  ought  to 
have  upon  the  world  in  future  an  even  greater 
influence  than  it  had  in  the  past.  The  world, 
he  said,  could  well  afford  "  to  place  its  confidence 
in  the  integrity  and  fairness  of  the  .^nglo-Saxon 
race.  For  the  sake  of  peace  and  disarmament 
It  seems  necessary  that  some  superior  power 
should  be  created.  Such  a  re-united  Anglo- 
Sixondom  would  be  a  supreme  sea-Power  of  the 
world,"  and  as  such  could  give  an  extension  to 
the  rights  of  neutrals  which,  in  his  opinion,  would 
render  war  impracticable.  He  said  :  "  It  is  not 
merely  that  the  combined  navies  would  be  strong. 
P'ar  more  weighty  are  the  considerations  that  the 
British  Empire  and  the  United  States  share 
between  them  nearly  all  the  work  of  prc)\  iding 
other  countries  with  the  food,  raw  material  aiicl 
manufiiciures  which  those  countries  cannot  pro- 
vide at  home,  and  of  carrying  the  ocean-borne 
trade  of  the  world.  Why  should  not  your  com- 
bined navies  declare  war,  refuse  henceforth  to 
acknowledge  the  right  of  any  civilised  Power  to 
close  her  ports  or  the  ports  of  another  Power  by  ■ 
blockading  or  otherwise?  Sun.ly  that  would  , 
sound  the  knell  of  war." 

Mr.  A.  W.  Tourgee,  writing  in  the  Contem- 
porary Revieio  two  years  ago^  said  : — 

"  An  alliance  between  the  great  branches  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  family  means  the  creation  of  a  worlJ- 
power  against  which  it  is  not  only  impossible  that  any 
Kuropean  combination  should  make  headway,  but  it  will 
have  such  control  of  the  commercial  and  economic 
resources  of  the  world  as  to  enable  them  to  put  an  end  to 
war  between  the  Continental  Powers  themselves  without 
mustering  an  army  or  firing  a  gun.  Whether  they  desire 
it  or  not,  the  necessities;  of  the  world's  life,  the  preserva- 
tion of  1  heir  own  political  ideals,  and  the  commercial  and 
economic  conditions  which  they  conlront,  must  s.^on 
compel  a  closer  entente  between  these  two  great  peoples. 
They  are  the  peacemakers  of  the  Twentieth  Century,  the 
protectors  of  the  world's  development,  the  protectors  of 
i"ree  independence  and  of  the  weak  nationalities  of  tlie 
earth." 

Writing  his  book  on  the  "  Rise  of  the  Em- 
pire," Sir  Walter  Besant  thus  defined  his  con- 
ception of  the  great  reconciliation  which  he 
believed  would  some  day  take  place  between 
the  United  States  and  the  British  Empire. 

"The  one  thing  needful  is  so  to  legishue,  so 
to  speak  and  write  to  each  other  that  this  btmvl 
may  be  strengthened  and  not  loosened.  A\'e 
want,  should  a  time  opportune  arrive,  to  se[)arjt2 
only  in  form.  We  want  an  everla:tin  j  alliance, 
offensive  and  defensive,  such  an  alliance  as  may 
make  us  absolutely  free  from  the  fear  of  any 
ctiier  alliance  which  could  crush  us." 

Sam  Slick,  in  his  homely  fashion,  hit  the  niil  . 

M 


l62 


The  Americanisalion  of  the   World. 


on  the  head  long  ago,  when,  in  his  "  Wise  Saws," 
he  said  : — 

"  We  are  two  great  nations,  the  greatest  by  a  long 
chalk  of  any  in  the  world,  speak  the  same  language, 
have  the  same  religion,  and  our  Constitution  don't  differ 
no  great  ixltis.  We  ought  to  draw  closer  than  we  do. 
We  are  big  enough,  ugly  enough,  and  strong  enough, 
not  to  be  jealous  of  each  other.  United  we  are  more 
nor  a  match  for  all  the  other  nations  put  together. 
Single  we  could  not  stand  against  all,  and  if  one  was  to 
fall,  where  would  the  other  be?  Mournin'  over  the 
grave  that  covers  a  relative  whose  place  can  never  be 
filled.  Its  authors  of  silly  books,  writers  of  silly  papers, 
and  demagogues  of  silly  parties,  that  help  to  estrange  us. 
I  wish  there  was  a  gibbet  high  enough  and  strong  enough 
to  hang  up  all  those  enemies  of  mankind." 

A  cool  observer,  who  for  a  long  tiine  was  a 
Nestor  among  Colonial  statesmen,  Sir  George 
Grey  of  New  Zealand,  in  his  closing  years  loved 
to  dwell  upon  the  future  of  the  English-speaking 
race.  "  Here  sat  the  people  of  one  language," 
was  a  sentence  which  he  used  on  one  occasion 
when,  addressing  the  Federal  Convention  at 
Sydney  in  1891,  he  indicated  in  one  pregnant 
phrase  the  territories  occupied  by  our  race. 
No  man  was  more  free  from  Chauvinistic  passion 
than  Sir  George  Grey,  and  few  men  were  more 
unsparing  critics  of  the  shortcomings  of  their 
.-countrymen.  But  in  his  latest  writings  he 
placed  his  conviction  on  record  that,  if  the 
reunion  were  but  attained,  "  it  would  mean  the 
triumph  of  Christianity,  the  highest  moral  system 
man  in  all  his  history  has  known  ;  and  it  would 
imply  the  dominance  of  probably  the  richest 
language  that  has  ever  existed.  The  adoption 
of  a  universal  code  of  morals  and  a  universal 
tongue  would  pave  the  way  for  the  last  great 
federation — the  brotherhood  of  man." 

In  fine,  we  liad  reached  an  epoch  of  federa- 
tion which  was  the  new  form  of  human 
economy  : — 

"  As  its  result  war  would  by  degrees  die  out  from  the 
face  of  the  earth.  If  you  had  the  Anglo-Saxon  race 
acting  on  a  common  ground,  they  could  determine  the 
4)alance  of  power  for  a  fully  peopled  earth.  Such  a 
■moral  force  would  be  irresistible,  and  argument  would 
take  the  place  of  war  in  the  settlement  of  international 
•<iispute>.  As  the  second  great  result  of  the  cohesion  of 
the  race  we  should  have  life  quickened  and  developed, 
and  unemployed  energies  called  into  action  in  many 
places  where  they  now  lie  stagnant." 

For  the  attainment  of  the  greater  unity.  Sir 
George  Grey  .suggested  that  the  Governments  at 
Washington  and  Westminster  should  come  to  a 
standing  agreement  '*  that  whenever  any  subject 
affecting  us  both  arises,  or  wlien  there  is  any 
question  affecting  the  well-being  of  the  world 
generally,  we  shall  meet  in  Conference  and 
decide  upon  common  action.  An  Anglo-Ameri- 
can Council  coming  quietly  into  action  when 
there  was  cause,  disappearing  for  the  time  when 


it  had  done  its  work,  would  be  a  mighty  instru- 
ment for  good." 

There  is  no  necessity  for  constituting  an 
Anglo-American  Council  for  that  purpose.  If 
once  the  principle  were  accepted,  no  important 
question  of  foreign  policy  would  be  discussed 
either  at  Washington  or  Westminster,  without 
previous  consultation  between  the  Foreign 
Secretary  or  Secretary  of  State  through  the 
ordinary  channels  of  diplomatic  intercourse. 
The  American  Ambassador  at  St.  James's  or  the 
British  Ambassador  at  Washington,  would  always 
be  called  into  Council  whenever  any  decision 
was  taken  involving  the  possibility  of  foreign 
complications.  Such  an  arrangement  would  be 
much  preferable  to  that  of  the  constitution  of 
an  Anglo-American  Council  as  suggested  by 
Sir  George  Grey. 

Mr.  Carnegie  shared  the  opinion  of  Sir 
George  Grey  as  to  the  beneficent  influence 
which  would  be  exercised  on  the  world  by  our 
reunited  race.  Such  reunion,  he  declared, 
would  give  us  the  future  dominion  of  the 
world,  "  and  that  for  the  good  of  the  world, 
for  the  English-speaking  race  has  always  stood 
first  among  races  for  peace,  plenty,  liberty, 
justice  and  law,  and  first,  also,  it  will  be  found, 
for  the  government  of  the  people,  for  the  people, 
and  by  the  people.  It  is  w-ell  that  the  last 
word  in  the  affairs  of  the  world  is  to  be  ours, 
and  is  to  be  spoken  in  plain  English." 

Mr.  Carnegie's  idea,  which  he  expounded  a 
little  more  at  length  in  1899,  maintained  that 
patriotism  of  race  involved  a  mutual  alliance 
limited  for  the  purposes  of  self-defence.  "  The 
present  era  of  good  feeling,"  he  said,  "  means 
that  the  home  of  Shakespeare  and  Burns  will 
never  be  invaded  without  other  than  native- 
born  Britons  being  found  in  its  pavements. 
This  means  that  the  giant  child,  the  Republic, 
is  not  to  be  sat  upon  by  a  combination  of  other 
races,  and  pushed  to  its  destruction  without  a 
growl  coming  from  tlie  old  lion,  which  will 
shake  the  earth,  but  it  will  not  mean  that  either 
the  old  land  or  the  new  binds  itself  to  support 
the  other  in  all  its  designs,  either  at  home  or 
abroad,  but  that  the  Republic  shall  remain  the 
friend  of  all  nations  and  the  ally  of  none,  that 
being  free  to-day  of  all  foreign  entanglements, 
she  shall  not  undertake  to  support  Britain  who 
has  these  to  deal  with." 

Sir  Walter  Besant  was  not  less  sanguine  as 
to  the  good  results  which  would  follow  when 
the  six  great  nations — Britain,  the  United  States, 
Canada,  Australia,  New  Zealand  and  South 
Africa,  were  united  in  a  federation,  in  which  a 
Board  of  Arbitration  would  be  the  outward  and 
visible  sign  of  union.     He  said  : — 

"They  would  be  an  immense  Federation, 
free,  law-abiding,  peaceful,  yet  ready  to  fight. 


Sieps  Towards  Reunion. 


16 


tenacious  of  all  customs,  dwelling  continually 
with  the  same  ideas,  keeping  each  family  as  the 
unit,  every  home  the  centre  of  the  earth,  every 
township  of  a  dozen  men  the  centre  of  the 
Government." 

The  swelling  phrase,  "dominion  of  the 
World,"  is  one  at  which  long  experience 
teaches  us  to  look  askance.  It  should  be  no 
ambition  of  ours  to  dominate  the  world  save  by 
the  influence  of  ideas  and  the  force  of  our 
€^ample.  The  temptation  to  believe  that  we 
are  the  Vice-gerent  of  the  Almighty,  charged 
with  the  thunder-bolt  of  Heaven,  for  the  punish- 
ment of  evil-doers,  is  one  of  the  subtle  tempta- 
tions by  which  the  Evil  One  lures  well-meaning 
people  to  embark  upon  a  course  of  policy  which 
soon  becomes  indistinguishable  from  bucaneer- 
ing  pure  and  simple.  But  when  all  due  allow- 
ance has  been  made  for  the  danger  of  exjwsing 
the  English-speaking  man  to  the  temptation  of 
almost  irresistible  power,  the  advantages  to  be 
gained  by  the  Reunion  of  the  Race  are  po  greai 
as  to  justify  our  incurring  the  risk.  Such  reunion, 
to  say  the  least  of  it,  aftbrds  the  world  not 
merely  the  shortest  but  the  only  road  by  which 
we  can  attain  to  a  realization  of  the  ideal  so 
nobly  described  by  Sir  John  Harrington,  when 
Avriting  in  his  '*  Oceana,"  he  asked  : — 

"  VVhat  can  you  think  but,  if  the  world  should 
see  the  Roman  Eagle  again,  she  would  renew 
her  age  and  her  flight  ?  If  you  add  to  the  pro- 
pagation of  civil  liberty  the  propagation  of  the 
liberty  of  conscience,  this  empire,  this  patronage 
of  the  wOrld,  is  the  Kingdom  of  Christ.  The 
Commonwealth  of  this  make  is  a  minister  of 
■God  upon  earth,  for  which  cause  the  orders  last 
rehearsed  are  buds  of  empire,  such  as  that  the 
blessing  of  God  may  spread  the  arms  of  your 
Commonwealth  like  a  holy  asylum  to  the  dis- 
tressed world,  and  give  the  earth  her  Sabbath 
of  years  or  rest  from  her  labours  under  the 
shadow  of  vour  wings." 


Chapter  IV. — Thk  End  Thereof? 

I  HAVE  now  concluded  a  very  rapid  and  most 
imperfect  survey  of  some  af  the  more  potent 
forces  which  are  Americanising  the  world. 
There  remains  the  great  question  whether  the 
processes  now  visible  in  operation  around  us 
will  make  for  the  progress  and  the  betterment 
of  the  world. 

When  Mr.  Gladstone  contemplated  what  he 
called  "  the  paramount  question  of  the  American 
future "  he  expressed  himself  with  the  same 
sense  of  awe  which  filled  the  Hebrew  prophet 


when  he  had  a  vision  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
and  His  train  filled  the  Temple. 

"There  is  a  vision,"  said  Mr.  (Gladstone,  "of  terri- 
tory, population,  power,  passinj:;  beyond  all  experience. 
The  exhibition  to  mankind  for  the  first  time  in  history  of 
free  institutions  on  a  gigantic  scale  is  momentous.'' 

With  his  inveterate  optimism,  he  declared 
that  he  had  enough  faith  in  freedom  to  believe 
that  it  would  work  powerfully  for  good  : — 

"But  together  with  and  behind  these  vast  develop- 
ments there  will  come  a  corresponding  opportunity  of 
social  and  moral  influence  to  be  exercised  over  the  rest 
of  the  world,  and  the  question  of  questions  for  us  as 
trustees  for  our  posterity  is,  what  will  be  the  nature  of 
this  influence  ?  Will  it  make  us,  the  children  of  the 
senior  race,  living  together  under  its  action,  better  or 
worse  ?  Not  what  manner  of  producer,  but  what  manner 
of  man  is  the  American  of  the  future  to  be?  How  is 
the  majestic  figure,  who  is  to  become  the  largest  and 
most  powerful  on  the  stage  of  the  world's  history,  to 
make  use  of  his  power  ?  " 

And  then  Mr.  Gladstone  went  on  in  his 
accustomed  style  to  ask  various  questions  as  to 
how  the  influence  which  the  American  would 
inevitably  exercise  in  the  world  would  be  used. 

"Will  it,"  he' asked,  "be  instinct  with  moral  life  in 
proportion  to  its  material  strength  ?  One  thing  is  certain, 
his  temptations  will  multiply  with  his  power,  his  respon- 
sibilities with  his  opportunities.  Will  the  seed  be  sown 
among  the  thorns  ?  will  worthlessness  overrun  the  ground 
and  blight  its  flowers  and  its  fruit?  On  the  answers  to 
these  questions,  and  to  such  as  these,  it  will  depend 
whether  this  new  revelation  of  power  on  the  earth  is 
also  to  be  a  revelation  of  virtue,  whether  it  shall  prove  a 
blessing  or  a  curse.  May  Heaven  avert  every  darker 
omen,  and  grant  that  the  latest  and  largest  growth  of  the 
great  Christian  civilisation  shall  also  be  the  brightest  and 
best  ?  " 

To  Mr.  Gladstone  all  this  pompous  detail  of 
material  triumphs  was  worse  than  idle,  unless 
they  were  regarded  simply  as  tools  and  materials 
for  the  attainment  of  the  highest  purposes  of 
our  being.     To  use  his  own  striking  phrase  : — 

"  We  must  ascend  from  the  ground  floor  of  material 
industry  to  the  higher  regions  in  which  these  nobler 
purposes  are  to  be  wrought  out." 

Those  who  believe  in  progress,  and  those 
who  see  in  the  trend  of  the  centuries  one  end- 
less' march  of  what  Mazzini  described  as  the 
"  infinitely  ascending  spiral  which  leads  from 
matter  up  to  God,"  must  perforce  accept 
the  transformation  as  part  of  the  great  law 
which  presides  over  the  evolution  of  human 
society ;  but  it  is  impossible  not  to  recognise 
that  this  process,  while  fraught  with  great  and 
palpable  advantages,  is  not  without  its  draw- 
backs. Life's  fitful  fever  will  become  more 
feverish  than  ever.  "  The  world  is  too  much 
with  us.  Getting  and  spending  we  lay  waste 
our  powers,"  said  Wordsworth,  and  the  American 
tendency  is  to  consume  the  whole  of  our  powers 

M  2 


164 


The  Atnericanisation  of  the   World, 


in  the  process,  leaving  none  for  the  cultivation 
of  the  higher  soul.  An  English  journalist  who 
had  spent  long  years  in  an  American  newspaper 
office  summed  up  the  difference  between  the 
two  branches  of  the  English-speaking  race  in  a 
sentence.  "  In  England,"  he  said,  "  you  work 
in  order  to  live ;  in  America,  they  live  only  in 
order  to  work."  Each  section  of  the  race  carries 
its  natural  tendency  to  too  great  an  extreme. 
Both  would  be  better  were  each  to  contribute 
of  its  best  to  the  common  stock.  The  rush 
and  bustle  of  modern  life,  the  eager  whirl  of 
competitive  business,  the  passionate  rush  to 
outstrip  a  neighbour  or  a  rival — all  these  things 
have  their  uses ;  they  tend  to  eliminate  the 
unfit,  and  to  give  the  survivor  superior  effi- 
ciency, just  as  the  speed  of  the  deer  depends 
upon  the  fact  that  from  day  to  day  it  is  hunted 
for  its  life. 

But  this  struggle  for  existence  may  easily  be 
carried  to  such  a  point  as  to  make  existence 
itself  hardly  worth  having.  The  universal  ex- 
perience-of  the  wisest  and  best  of  mankind 
speaks  with  no  uncertain  voice  in  condetnnation 
of  a  life  that  has  no  leisure.  As  one  wise  writer 
said,  "  if  you  are  always  catching  trains,  you  have 
no  time  to  think  of  your  soul."  A  contented 
mind  is  a  continual  feast.  But  content  is  scorned 
by  the  go-ahead  American.  I  have  learned,  said 
the  Apostle,  in  whatsoever  state  I  am,  therewith 
to  be  content.  But,  says  the  eager  exponent  of 
Americanism,  the  Americans  succeed  because 
they  are  never  contented.  Divine  discontent  is 
very  well,  but  there  is  such  a  thing  as  undivine 
discontent,  and  there  is  a  good  deal  of  the  latter 
in  the  United  States  to-day.  Possibly,  when  the 
country  is  a  little  older,  this  tempestuous  eager- 
ness natural  to  youth  may  give  way  to  a  more 
sedate  and  tranquil  spirit,  but  at  present  there  is 
very  little  evidence  of  that  in  the  United  States. 
It  not  only  does  not  exist,  but  the  American 
journalists  glory  in  its  absence.  The  following 
quotation  from  an  editorial  in  the  New  York 
Evenbig  Jourjial  of  this  year  expresses  this  point 
of  view  with  an  uncompromising  vigour  which 
leaves  nothing  to  be  desired  : — 

"The  nations  of  Europe,  and  especially  the  English, 
wonder  at  the  success  of  the  American  people. 

"If  any  Englishman  wants  to  know  why  the  American 


race  can  beat  the  English  race  in  the  struggle  for  indus- 
trial precedence,  let  him  stand  at  the  Delaware-Lacka- 
wanna station,  in  Hoboken,  from  seven  until  nine  in  the 
morning  as  the  suburban  trains  come  in. 

"Far  outside  of  the  big  railroad  station  the  train 
appears,  puffing  and  panting,  and  while  it  is  still  going; 
at  dangerous  speed,  men,  young  and  old,  are  seen  leaning 
far  out  from  every  platform. 

"As  the  train  rushes  in  the  men  leap  from  the  cars 
on  both  sides,  and  a  wild  rush  follows  for  the  ferryboat. 
Not  a  man  is  walking  slowly  or  deliberately. 

"It  is  one  rush  to  business ;  it  is  one  rush  all  day  ;  it 
is  one  rush  home  again. 

"The  gauge  on  the  engine  tells  the  pressure  of  stean> 
and  the  work  that  the  engine  can  do. 

"The  gauge  on  the  American  human  being  stands  at 
high  pressure  all  the  time.  His  brain  is  constantly- 
excited,  his  machinery  is  working  with  a  full  head  of 
steam. 

"Tissues  are  burned  up  rapidly,  and  the  machine 
often  burns  u^  sooner  than  it  should.  The  man  bald 
and  gray  in  his  youth  ;  the  man  a  victim  of  dyspepsia,  of" 
nervousness,  of  narcotics  and  stimulants,  is  a  distinct 
American  institution.  He  is  an  engine  burned  out 
before  his  time ;  but  his  work  has  been  done,  and  that 
great  locomotive  works.  The  American  Mother,  is 
for  ever  supplying  the  demand  for  new  engines  to  be  run 
at  dangerously  high  speed. 

"The  American  succeeds  because  he  is  under  high 
pressure  always,  because  he  is  determined  to  make  speed 
even  at  the  risk  of  bursting  the  boiler  and  wrecking  the 
machine." 

This  is  an  unlovely  spectacle,  which  seems  ta 
those  of  us  who  are  not  without  sympathy  with 
the  strenuous  life,  very  much  like  a  vision  of 
hell.  How  great  a  contrast  to  the  calm,  philo- 
sophic life  of  thought,  which  is  the  ideal  of  the 
Eastern  Sage ! 

"  The  East  bowed  low  in  solemn  thought 
In  silent  deep  disdain. 
She  heard  the  legions  thunder  past, 
Then  plunged  in  thought  again," 

In  Asia  whole  populations  have  learned  the 
lesson  that  life  is  better  spent  in  the  contented 
possession  of  a  few  things  than  in  the  mad  rush 
after  many.  There  is  a  wealth  which  arises 
from  the  fewness  of  our  wants,  as  well  as  a 
wealth  that  is  measured  by  the  amplitude  of  our 
resources. 

"  'Tis  not  all  of  life  to  live, 
Nor  all  of  death  to  die." 

and  the  solemn  inquiry  still  holds — "  What 
shall  it  profit  a  man,  if  ho  shall  gain  the  wiiole 
world,  and  lose  his  own  soul  ?  " 


INDEX. 


Abbey,  E.  A.,  115 

Adams,   Brooks,   on  the  West  Indies, 

34-35  ,.       , 

Adams,  Francis,  on  Australia,  56 
Africa  : 

South  Africa ! 

A  Second  Ireland,  21,  28 
The  Jameson  Conspiracy,  28-31 
President    Kruger    and   the     U  it- 
landers,  28-31 
British  Incompetence  in  S.  Africa, 

31 
The  Native  Question,  31 
Military  Despotism,  32 
Federation,  32 

The  Diamond  Mines,  33,  144 
The  Canadian  Contingent   in  the 

War,  43,  47,  49,  50 
The  Australian  Contingent  in  the 

War,  55,  56 
Portugal  ana  Delagoa  Bay,  ;i} 
Germany  and  S.  Africa,  33 
The  Americanisation  of  S.  Africa, 

28-34 
England  in  Egypt,  92 
The  Cape  to  Cairo  Railway,  140 
The  American  Missions  in  Africa, 

78 
Aguinaldo,  79 
Alaskan  Dispute,  94 
Alexander,  J.  W.,  115 
Aman-Jean,  E.,  on  American  Art,  116 
America  (see  also  Canada,  Newfound- 
land, United  States,  Central  Ame- 
rica, South  America,  &c.)  : 

America  under  European  Poweis,  94 

Pan-American  Arbitration,  95,  97 
Americanisation  of  the  World  : 

Great  Britain,  7-18 

Ireland,  19-28 

South  Africa,  28-34 

Newfoundland  and  Canada,  39~5* 

Australia,  51-59 

Germany      and      Austria-Hungary, 

^5-73 
The  Ottoman  Empire,  73-78 

Asia,  78-83 

Central  and  South  America,  83-90 

How  America  Americanises,  98-146 

The  American  Invasion,  132-146 

Summing-Up,  147-164 

Reunion    of    the    English-Speak  ng 
Race,  14-28,  151-163 
Anderson,  Mary,  1 19 
Andrews,  Mrs.  EUzabeth,  83 
Arbitration,    International,    sec    under 

Peace  Movement 
Archer,    William,    on    the    American 

Drama,  1 18-121 
Architecture  in  the  United  States,  116 
Argentine  Republic  : 

'I'he  Latin  Population,  86 

British  Capital,  85 

Argentine  for  the  Germans,  87 


Argyll,  Duke  of, 

On  England  and  the  United  States, 

63 
On    Germany    and     the     Argentine 

Republic,  87 

On  the  French  Canadians,  46 
Armenia  :  American  Missions,  76 
Art  of  the  United  States,  1 12,  114-116 
Asia,  Americanisation  of,  78-83 
Astor,  W.  W.,  126 
Astronomy,  117 
Athletics  in  America,  132 
Atkinson,   Edw.,  on   the    Purchase  of 

New  Brunswick,   Nova  Scotia,  and 

Prince  Edward    Id.   by  the    United 

States,  46 
Atlantic  Monthly  quoted,  73 
Australasia  and   the  Australian   Com- 
monwealth   (see    also    New    Zea- 
land) : 

The  New  Commonwealth;  Map,  52 

Exhibition     Buildings,    Melbourne  ; 
Illustration,  52 

The  Constitution,  53 

The  Australian  High  Court  and  the 
Privy  Council,  51,  53 

Marriage  and  Divorce  Laws,  53 

Population,  58 

Geiman  Emigration  to  Australia,  58- 

59 
The  Question  of  Coloured  Labour, 

54-55 
The  Tariff,  51 
The   Australian    Contingent    in    S. 

Africa,  55-56 
The    Americanisation   of    Australia, 

51-59 
A  Monroe  Doctrine  for  the  Pacific, 

53-54 
Ihe  Case  of  New  Guinea,  53-54 
America  in  the  Pacific,  78-81 

Austria-Hungary  : 

Germany  and  Austria,  13 
Tariffs,  71 

The    Ameiicanisation     of    Austria- 
Hungary,  71-73 

Aveiiir  du  A'ord  quoted,  48 

Babcock,  K.  C,  on  the  Scandinavians 
in  the  United  States,  63 

Bachmetieff,  M.,  74 

Bahamas,  34 

Bakewell,  Mr.,  on  New  Zealand,  59 

Balfour,  A.  J., 

On  England  and  America,  14 
On  Coercion  in  Ireland,  44 

Balkan  States,  73-78 

Ball,  Sir  Robert,  on  American  Astro- 
nomy, 1 17 

Banana-Growing  in  Jamaica,  35 

]?ancr()ft,  George,  on  the  Population  of 
the  United  States,  61 

Barbados,  34 

Bajard,    T.   F.,  on    Canada   and    the 
American  Civil  War,  43 


Beechev,  Rev.  Henry  Ward,  102,  104  ; 
Portrait,  lOD 

Belgium,  Prince  Albert  of,  on  the 
American  Invasion,  73. 

Bellamy,  Edward,  1 10 

Bennett,  James  Gordon,  126 

Berlin  Americanised,  67 

Berlin  Congress  and  Berlin  Treaty,  75 

Bermuda,  34 

Besant,  Sir  Walter,  on  Anglo-American 
Reunion,  156,  161,  162-163 

Beveridge,  Senator,  on  American  Ex- 
pansion, 79,  81 

Bildt,  Baroness  de,  121 

Bismarck,   Prince,   on   German  Unity, 

Boating  in  America,  129-131 

Bosan  de  Perigord  and  Talleyrand, 
Countess,  126 

Boston  Journal  (^[woiti,  37 

Bourinot,  Sir  J.  G.,  referred  to,  47 

Brazil  for  the  Germans,  67-68,  88 

Bridge-Building,  139-140 

British  Empire,  see  Colonies  and  Em- 
pire. 

Brooks,  Sydney,  on  a  luuopean  Cus- 
toms Union,  73 

Brougham,  Lord,  quoted,  103 

Bryan,  Col.  C.  P.,  on  Brazil,  88 

Bryce,  James,  on  the  American  Con- 
stitution, 18 

Bulgaria,  Piincipality  of,  74  76 

Bushnell,  Dr.  Kate,  83 

Byron,  Lord,  quoted,  99 

Canada  : 

Parliament  Buildings,  Ottawa ;  Illus- 
tration, 40 
The  Constitution  of  the  Dominion, 

50 
The  Right  of  Secession,  43 
Population,  42,  50 
The  Irish  in  Canada,  44 
The  French  Canadians,  46-48 
Treatment  of  the  Indians,  50 
Mineral  Wealth,  45 
The  Klondyke  Gold  Mines,  46 
The  (Question  of  Tariffs,  43-49 
The    Americanisation     ot     Canada, 

42-51 
The  (Question  of  Annexation  by  the 

United  States,  47-51 
Fisheries     Dispute     between     Nova 

Scotia  and  Massachusetts,  45 
Suggested    Purchase  of  New  J5runs- 

wick,    Nova    Scotia,    and    Prince 

Edward  Id.  by  the  United  States, 

46 
The    Canadians   and    the    American 

Civil  War,  43 
The  Canadians  and   the  War  in  S. 

Africa,  43,  47,  49.  5° 
The   1  >uUe  of  Cornwall  and  \  ork's 

Visit  to  Canada,  48 
Canals,  see  Nicaragua,  Panama 


1 66 


Index] 


Canevaro,  Adm.,  on  American  Com- 
petition, 73 
Canning,  deorge,  and  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine, 90 
Carnegie,  Andrew, 
J'urtrait,  128 
On  Canada,  48,  49 
On  International  Arbitration,  96 
On  the  Mineral  Resources  of  Great 

Britain,  138 
On  Anglo-American  Federation,  154 

-155.  157,  159.  162 
Other  References,  126,  128,  140,  149 
Catholic  Church  : 

The  French  in  Canada,  46-47 

The  Catholics  in  Latin  America,  98, 

104 
Catholic  Missions,  78 
Centennial  quoted,  58 
Central  America : 
Map,  84 
Statistics,  86 
The     Americanisation     of    Central 

America,  88-90 
The  Isthmian  Canal,  88-90 
The  Monroe  Docrine,  90-95 
Chamberlain,  Joseph, 

His  South  African  Policy,  28-34 
His  Policy  in  the  West  Indies,  34-38 
His  Attitude  to  Australia,  51,  53,  55 
On  the  Right  of  Secession,  42,  43 
Other  References,  145,  155 
Chamberlain,  Mrs.  Joseph,  124 
Chicago  Record- Herald  quoted,  74 
Chili,  86 

Chimay  and  Caraman,  Princess  de,  124 
China : 
The  Crisis  in  China,  81 
The  United  States  and  China,  81-82 
The  American  Missionaries,  82 
Choate,    J.    H.,  on  American  Demo- 
cracy, 150 
Christian  Endeavour  Movement,  104 
Church  and  Christianity  : 
Christians  and  Jews,  7 
The  Catholics  in  Canada,  46-47 
The  Catholics  in  Latin  America,  98, 

104 
Religion  in  the  United  States,  98- 

104 
Foreign      Missions,      see     Missions 
(Foreign) 
Churchill,  Lord  Randolph,  123,  124 
Civil    War   of  America  :    Altitude    of 

Canada,  43 
Clark,  Rev.  F.  E.,  104 
Clark,  Prof.  J.  B.,  145 
Clarke,    Sir   Edward,   on   Murder   for 

Profit,  79 
Cleveland,  President,  30,  31 

Portrait,  69 
Clubs  for  Americans  in  London,  128 
Cobden,  Richard, 
On  America,  3,  156 
On  the  Americans  and  Turkey,  76 
On  Education  in  America,  147-148 
Cockburn,  Sir  John,  on  the  Australian 

Constitution,  53 
Coghlan,   Mr.,   on   the   Population   of 

Australia,  58 
Colonies  and  the  British  Empire  : 
The  British  Constitution,  14-18 
Great    Britain    and    Her    Colonies, 
160-161 


Colonies    and    the    British    Empire — 
continued. 

Population   and   Area     (with   map), 
8-11 

Finance,  1 1 

The    Americanisation    of    England, 
14-18 

The  British  in  America,  25,  26 

The  Americanisation  of  Ireland,  19- 
28 

The  Government  of  Ireland,  19-28 

The  Irish  in  America,  25 

The    South    African    Question,    21, 
28-34 

The  Case  of  the  West  Indies,  34-38 

Newfoundland  and  Canada,  39-51 

Australia  and  New  Zealand,  51-59 

Anglo- American     Reunion,     14-28, 
151-163 
Conger,  E.  H.,  82 
Contemporary  Review  quoted,  27,    49, 

156-157,  161 
Cooper,  Fenimore,  109 
Corea  :  Openings  for  American  Capi- 
tal, 83 
Cornwall    and     York,    Duke    of,     in 

Canada,  48  ;  in  New  Zealand,  59 
Cornwallis-West,  Mrs.  George,  124 

Portrait,  122 
Coyle,  E.  J.,  on  the  Foreign  Elements 

in  the  United  States,  63 
Croker  Richard, 

Portrait,  64 

On  Expansion,  81 

Other  References,  25,  131 
Cromwell,  Oliver,  34,  158 
Crucible   of    Nations   (in    the    United 

States),  59-64 
Cuba  :  The  American  Protectorate,  26, 

35,38 
Cummins,     Mr.,     on     the     American 

People,  60 
Cunnliff,  Mr.,  quoted,  141 
Curtis,  W.  E.,  on  the  American  Mis- 
sions in  Bulgaria,  74 
Curzon,  Lord,  Viceroy  of  India,  83  ■ 
Curzon,  Lady,  of  Kedleston,  124 

Portrait,  122 
Daly  Theatrical  Company,  118,  119 
Davies,  Vrof.  H.,  on  Canada,  50 
Delagoa  Bay,  33 
Democracy  in  the  United  States,   147, 

150-151 
Denmark  and  the  West  Indies,  94,  95 
Depew,    Chauncey  M.,    on   American 

Railways,  142 
Derby,  15th  Earl  of,  on  Anglo-Ameri- 
can Reunion,  153 
Dttttsc/ic  Revue,  quoted,  87 
Diamond  Mines  of  Kimberley,  33,  144 
Dicey,  Mr.,  on   Common   Citizenship, 

158-159 
Dillon,  Dr.  E.  J.,  153 
Dominica,  34 

Dryden,  Mr.,  Canadian  in  Dakota,  45 
Dufferin,  Marquis  of,  on  the  American 

People,  121 
Dufly,  Sir  C.  Gavan,  on  Australia,  56 
Durham,  1st  Earl  of,  and  His  Mission 

to  Canada,  46 
East  Indies  :  Dutch  Possessions,  53-54 
Education    in    England     and    in    the 

United  .States,  147-148 
Egypt :  English  Administration,  92 


Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo,  106 

Portrait,  108 
Emigration  to  the  United  States,  61-62 
Empire,  see  Colonies  and  Empire, 
End  of  the  Whole  Matter,  163-164 
Engineering,        Locomotives,        &c,  : 
American    Competition    with    Eng- 
land, 137-1.38,  139-142,  149 
English     Language     in     the     United 

States,  60,  63,  114 
English  People  ;  a  Composite  Race,  60 
English -Speaking  World  :  -       ■, 

The  United  States  and   the   British 

Empire,  7 
Basis  for  Reunion,  14-28 
Steps  towards  Reunion,  151-163 
The  Americanisation  of  the  World, 
see  Americanisation 
Entwhistle,  Edward,  139 
d'Estournelles  de   Constant,  Baroness, 

121 
Europe,  Americanisation  of,  65-73 
Evans,  Mr.,  on  Canada,  42 
Finance  (see  also  Tarifl's  under  Protec- 
tion) : 
Finance  of  the  British  Empire  and  ol 

the  United  States,  11 
The   American    Invasion,   Americari 
Competition,  132-146 
Finney,  Prof.,  102 
Finot,  Jean,  on  the  American  Pluto^ 

cracy,  123 
Fisheries  Disputes  : 

France  and  Xewfoimdiand,  39-42 
Nova  Scotia  and  Massachusetts,  45. 
Fitch,  Clyde,  120 
Foraker  Act  in  Porto  Rico,  37 
Ford,  Patrick,  referred  to,  25 
Fortnightly  Review  quoted,  16 1 
Forum  quoted,  63 
France : 

^     Population,  Finance,  &c.,  11 
France  and  Newfoundland,  39-42 
France  and  Canada,  46-48 
A  Franco- Russian  Alliance,  160 
Franklin,  Benjamin,  106 
Frechette,  Louis,  on  the  United  States 

and  Canada,  47 
Fremdenblatt  quoted,  71 
Frohman,  Charles,  119,  120 
Furness,  Sir  Christopher,  on  the  Trust, 

145 
Gage,  Lyman,  J.,  on  American  Ships, 

144   . 
George  III.  and  the  American  Colonies, 

9,  21,  152,  154 
George,  Henry, 

Portrait,  108 

On  Australia,  56 

Other  Reference,  no 
Germany : 

German  Unity,  13 

Germany  and  Austria,  13 

Population,  Finance,  etc.,  11 

Increase  of  the  Navj',  76 

Imports  from  the  United  States,  68 

Need  for  a  European  Customs  Union, 

65-73 
Germans  as  Colonists,  58-59 
German  Colonies,  67 
Germany  and  S.  Africa,  33 
tiermany  in  the  Pacific,  54 
( iermany  and  Samoa,  79 
Germany  and  the  West  Indies,  34 


Index, 


167 


Germany — continued. 

(Jermany  and  Brazil,  67-68,  87 
Argentina  for  the  (lernians,  87 
The  (lermans  in  the  L'niteil  States, 

62,  67 
The   Americanisition   of    deruiany, 
65-70 

(•cimany.  Emperor  William  If.  of, 
I'ortrait,  72 

On  the  Americanisatjon  of  Ciernianr, 
65-70 

Gillette,  William,  119,  120 

Gladstone,  W'.  K., 

On  the  English-Speaking  Race,  7S 
On  Ens^lanil  and  E5,'ypt,  92 
On  the  American  Constitution,  18 
On  American  Trade    Methods,   132, 

On  the  American  Future,  163-164 
Other  Reference,  78 

Cioblet  d'Alviella,  Counte.-s,  126 

(iold  Mines  : 

S.  Africa,  30-32 
Klondyke,  46 

Goluchowski,  (."cunt  A., 
Portrait,  72 
On  American  Competition.  68,  71 

Ciomez,  Gen.,  on  Cuba,  38 

Gorst,  Sir  John,  on  Education  in  Eng- 
land, 148 

Great  Britain  .ind  the  British  Empire, 
see  Colonies  and  Empire. 

Grey,  Earl,  158 

Grey,  Sir  Edward,  referred  to,  35 

Grey,  Sir  (ieorye,  on  Anglo-American 
Federation,  8,  162 

Griffin,  Mrs.  Hugh  Reid,  128 

Guiana,  British,  38 

Hague  Peace  Conference,  97 

Halle,  Dr.  von,  on  the  American  Ship- 
yards, 142 

Hamburg  Americanised,  67 

Hammond,  Hayes,  30 

Harrington,  Sir  John,  quoted,  163 

Harris,  Joel  Chand'er,  no 

Harrison,   Frederic,  on  America,  1 12, 
148 

Hartzell,  Bishop,  78 

Hatzfeldt,  Countess,  12 1 

Hawaii  annexed  by  the  United  Slates. 
78 

Hawthorne,  Nathaniel,  107 

Hay,  Col.  John, 

On  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  93 
On  American  Policy  in  China,  81 
On  England  and  the  United  States, 
161 

Hayti,  38 

Hazelline,  W.  M.,  on  Canada,  49 

Hearst,  W.  R.,  and   His  Newspapers, 
1 1 2-1 13 

Hecker,  Father,  104 

Helleljen,  Dr.  von,  70 

Herbert,  Hon.  Mrs.  M..  I2J 

Holland  in  the  East  Indies,  53  54 

Holls,   F.   W.,  and  the  Peace  C<  n  er- 
ence,  97 

Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,  109 

Home,  I^.  D.,  103 

Horses  and  Racing  in  .Vmerica,  131 

Howells,  W.  D., 

On  the  .American  People,  60 
On  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  91 

Huskisson,  Mr.,  139 


Illustrations  (see  also  Portraits)  : 

Caricaiurcs,  15,  36,66,89,  127,  130, 

>34,  136 
Houses  of  Parliament,  20 
Cliveden  House,  125 
Knebworth  House,  125 
C'ollege  Green,  Dublin,  24 
Prrliament  Buildings,  Ottawa,  42 
The  Capitol,  Washington,  20 
Exhibition  Buildings,  Melbourne,  52 
The     .-Vmerican     Delegates    at     th; 
Hague,  97 
.  The  Deiitschland,  146 

Independence  Day,  157 

Independence,  Declaration  of,  22 

India  : 
The  .\mericans  and  India,  83 
Official  Regulation  of  Vice,  83 

Indians  of  America,  50 

Ireland  : 

College  Green,  Dublin  ;  Illu<tralion, 

24 
Home  Rule,  27,  156-157 
Irish  Discontent,  19 
The  Irish  in  America,  25,  63 
The  Irish  in  Newfoundland,  41 
The  Irish  in  Canada,  44 
The  .\mericanisation  of  Ireland,  19- 
28 

Irish  Language  in  America,  63 

Irving,  Washington,  109 

Jamaica  : 

Cromwell's  Conquest.  34 
.Sugar-Growing,  34-38 
Bananas,  34 
Exports  and  Imports,  37 

Jamaica  Daily  Telegraph  quoted,  35 

James  I.  referred  to,  42 

Jameson  Conspiracy  in  S.  Africa,  28-31 

Japan : 

The  Labour  Question,  55 
The  Awakening  of  Japan,  82 
Monument  to  Commodore  Perry,  82 
The  American  Treaty,  1853,  82 
Bombardment  of  .Shimonoseki,  82 
Assassination  of  Hoshi  Torn,  82 

Jews  and  Christians,  7 

Journalism  : 

American  Subjects  in  English  News- 
papers, 158 
Journalism  in  the  United  States,  1 10- 

"3 

July  4  Celebrations,  157 

Kaneko,    Baron  K.,  on   America  and 

Japan,  82 
Kasson,  J.  A.,  on  Reciprocity,  73 
Kekewich,  Col.,  referred  to,  32 
Kimberley  Diamond  Mines,  33,  144 
Kingsley,  Charles,  on  the  West  Indies, 

34 
Kipling,  Rudyard,  79 
Klatte,  Dr.  W.,  on  American  Music, 

118 
Klondyke  Gold  Mines,  46 
Klumpke  Sisters,  117 
Korea  :  Openings  for  American  Capital, 

«3  • 

Kossuroth,  Mrs.  W.  B.,  74 
Labour  Questions  : 

Incentives  to  Workmen,    147,    149- 

Profit-.Sharing    and    Co-Partnership, 

'50 
Coloured  Labour,  54-55 


Lanir,  Senator,  on  an  .V'.v^l  )-.\merican 

.Mliance,  16 1 
Laurier,  Sir  W., 

Portrait,  40 

t)ti  Canada,  44,  48 

On  Irish  Home  Rule,  44 
Lefevre,    Ci.    .Shaw,    on    England    and 

South  America,  85,  86,  87 
Leng,   .Sir   |ohn,  on  the  Patent   Laws, 

'5°  ". 

Leroy-Beaulieii,   Paul,  on   a    lMiroi)ean 

Zollverein,  73 
Z//ir  (juoled,  126 
Lipton,  Sir  Thomas  (with  portrait), 

129 
literature     and     Journalism     in     the 

United  States,  104-114 
Lloyd,  Henry  Dcmarest,  no,  145 
Longfellow,  Henry  Wadsworth,  106 

Portrait,  108 
Look  Ahead,  151-157 
Lowell,  James  Russell,. 

Portrait,  108 

(Quoted,  14,  106 

Other  Reference,  107 
Lynch  Law  in  the  United  Stales,  62- 

63 
Macaulay,  Lord,  referred. to,  65 
Macedonia  under  Turkish  Rule,  74-75 
McGovern,  Chauncey,  ([uoted,  11 
McHugh,  P.  A.,  referred  to,  27 
Mackenzie,    Fred,     on    the    Ainericarv 

Invasion,  137,  138 
McKinley,  President, 

Portrait,  12 

His  Attitude  to  S.  Africa,  33 

On  C'anada,  49 

On  Reciprocity,  71 
Mahan,  Capt.,  and  an  American  Navy, 

142 
Maps  : 

Possessions  of  the  English-Speaking 
Race,  8,  79 

luirope  and  Americi  com]-ared,  69 

West  Indies,  British  and  American, 

36 
Central     America     and     the     Rival 

Canals,  84 
.•\ustralasia,  52 
Marlborough,  Duchess  of,  124 

Portrait,  122 
Marriage  : 

Marriage  and   Divorce  in  Australia, 

53 
American  Wives  in  Europe,  121- 1 28 

Martin,  Mrs.  Bradley,  126 

Maxim.  Sir  Hiram, 

On  Canada,  45 

On  English  and  Americ.nn  Tools,  137 

On  Anglo-American  Federation,  154 
Mein,  Cajit.,  30 
Methot,  Miss  M.,  n8 
Mexico  :  The  Tehuantejicc  Railway,  90 
Milner,   Lord,  and  S.  .\fric.i,   28,  31, 

48 
Mines  : 

Kimberley  Diamonds,  33,  144 

Gold  in  S.  Africa,  3C-32 

Gold  of  Klondyke,  46 

Mines  of  Canada,  45 
Minto,  Earl  of,  48 
Missions,  Foreign, 

Missions    of    the    English-Speaking 
World  ;  Statistics,  78 


1 68 


Incitx. 


Missions,  Forcii;n — coiUiniied. 
Ameiican    Missionaries    in   Turkey, 

etc..  73-78  . 

Ame  ican  Missionaries  in  A>io,  82, 

^3         . 
Monaco,  Princess  of,  IZ4 

Monarchy  and  Republic,  14 

Miinod.  >Ime.  Henri,  126 

Monroe,  I'resident  James, 

I'ortrait,  69 

Qujted,  90 
Monroe  Doctrine  : 

What  the  Monroe  Doctrine  is,  90- 

95 

The  Klondyke  Case,  46 

The  Monroe  l>ocirine  in  S.  Ameiica, 
68,  85,  90-95 

The  Venezuelan  Dispute,  30,  31,  90, 
9*1  96 

A  Monroe  Doctrine  for  the  Pacific, 
53-54 

Other  Reference,  3S 
Montesquieu  referred  to,  19 
Mcody,  D.  L.,  103 

Portrait,  100 
Moore,  Mrs.  Blomfield,  126 
Morgan,  J.  Pierpont, 

Portrait,  143 

His  Purchase  of  the  Ley  land  Line  of 
Steamers,  144 

Other  References,  128.  144 
Mossouloff,  General,  76 
Motley,  J.  L.,  109 
Murray,  David  Christie,  on  Australia, 

56 
Musit  of  the  United  States,  117 
National  Jievieio  (\\\o\^ed,  35 
Nauticus  on  Anglo- Ameiican  Reunion, 

161 
Xavies  : 

Increase  of  the  German  Navy,  76 

An  American  Navy,  142 
Negroes  of  the  United  States,  62-63 
Nevada,  Emma,  118 
New  Brunswick,  46 
New   Guinea :    Australia   and   a   Pro- 
tectorate, 53 
AVri'  i  ork  Herald  (\\xoit6,  70 
A'nu  York  jfcndrnal,  etc.,  1 1 2-1 13 
New  Zealand  : 

An  Independent  Commimity,  59 

Visit  of  the  Duke  of  Cornwa  1  and 
Yoik,  59 

New  Zealand  and  ihe  Pacific,  54 

The  United  States  and  New  Zealand, 

59 
Newioundland  : 

The  Americanisation  of  Newfound- 
land, 39-42 

France  and  the  Fisheries,  39-42 
•  The  Irish  in  Newfoundland,  41 
Nicaragua  Canal,  88-90 
Sttutcittth    Centuty    quotetl,    27,     59, 

"2,  154 
Nonconformists  in  the   Uniteil  States, 

101-102 
North   American   Rei-iexv  quoted,  63, 

154,  155,  160 
Nova  Scotia,  43,  45,  46 
Nin-oye  V'ranya  quoted,  13 
O'Brien,    William,    on    Ireland     and 

America,  27 
Olney,  Richard, 

Portrait,  69 


Olney,  Richard— r<7«//V;«<Ti/. 

Mr.  Olney  and  the  Monroe  Doctrine, 

90-9  > 
On  War,  96 

Ottoman  Empire,  see  Turkey 

Pacific  Ids.  : 
A  Monroe  Doctrine  for  the  Pacific, 

53-54 
New  Zealand  and  the  Pacific,  54 
The  Case  of  New  Guinea,  53-54 
Germany  in  the  Pacific,  54,  78 
The  Americans  in  Samoa,  78 
Ameiican  Annexation  of  Hawaii,  78 
American  Annexation  of  the  I'hilip- 

pine  Ids.,  26,  79 
The  Dutch  East  Indies,  53-54 

Paget,  Mrs.  Arthur,  126 
Portrait,  122 

Pan-American    Prol.lems,    see     under 
America 

Panama  Canal,  88-90 

Parliamentary : 

The  English  Constitution,  14-18 
Monarchy  and  Republic,  14 
Houses  of  Parliament  ;   Illustration, 

20 
Colonial  and  American  Constituinr  s, 
see     under    Canada,    Austialasia, 
United  States,  &c. 

Patent  Laws,  150 

Pauncefote.  Lord,  and  the  Pence  Con- 
ference, 97 

Peabody,  George,  128 

Peace  and  International  Arbitration  : 
The  Plague  Conference,  97 
International  Arbitrations  in  Anglo- 
American  Disputes,  95 
The  United  States  and  International 

Arbitration,  95-97 
Pan- American  Arbitiation,  95,  97 

P,arsoti's  Magazitie  qaoicil,  11 

Peetz,  Dr.,  on  American  Competition, 
71 

Periodical   Liteiature   in    the    United 
States,  113 

Perry,  Commodore,  Monument  to,  in 
Tapan,  82 

Pe"ru,  86,  98 

Philippine    Ids.  :    American    Annexa- 
tion, 26,  79 

Phipps,  Mr..  126 

Pickering,  Prof.,  117 

Pincree,  Governor,  on  the  Trust,  145 

Pirbrigbt,  Lord,  on  the  West  Indies, 
35 

Poe,  E.  A.,  109 

Polo  in  America,  132 

Popoff,  Mrs.,  74 

Population  : 
The  World,  9-1 1 
The  British  Empire,  9-1 1 
Other  European  Countries,  10-11 
The  United  States,  9-1 1,  25,  42,  61, 

62 
Canada.  42,  50 
Australia,  58 

Porto  Rico  :       , 

American  Rule,  35-38 
Sugar-Growing,  37 

Portraits  : 

Barton,  Edmund.  1:7 
Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  100 
Bolivar  of  Bolivia,  84 
Carn«»ie,  Andrew,  128 


Portraits— r<»////A /W. 

Castro,  Prcsid«  ni,  85 

Cleveland,  Presidtnt,  69 

Cornwallis-West,  Mrs.  George,  122 

Croker.  Richard,  64 

Curzon,  I^dy.  of  Kedleston,  122 

Davitt.  Michael,  24. 

Diaz,  Pres.dent,  84 

Dillon,  John,  24 

Kmeison,  Ralph  Waldo,  108 

d'Estournelles  .de   Constant,  Earon, 
72 

Forrest,  Sir  John,  57 

George,  Heniy,  108 

Germany,  Emperor  William  II.  of, 
72 

Goluchowski,  Coimt  A.,  72 

Hilkofi",  Prince,  72 

Kingston,  C.  C,  57 

Laurier,  Sir  W.,  40 

Lipton,  Sir  Thomas,  129 

Longfellow,  H.  W.,  108 

Lowell,  James  Russell,  loS 

McKinley,  President,  12 

Marlborough,  Duchess  of,  122 

Monroe,  President  James.  69 

Moody,  D.  L.,  100 

Morgan,  J.  Pierpont,  143 

Olney,  Richard,  69 

Paget,  Mrs.  Arthur,  122 

Plunkelt,  Horace,  24 

Redmond,  John,  24 

Rhodes,  C.  J.,  29 

Roosevelt,  President  Theodore,  2 

Sankey,  Ira,  D.,  ico 

Seddon,  R.  J.,  57 

.Smith,  Gold  win,  40 

Stone,  Miss,  75 

Twain,  Mark,  105 

Washington,  George,  17 

Willard,  Miss  F.,  100 
Portugal  and  S.  Africa,  33 
Prince  Edward  Id.,  46 
Privy  Council,  Australia  and,  51,  53 
Proctor,    Senator,  on   Britain  and   the 

United  States  in  Asia  and  the  Pacific, 

53 
Protection  and  Free  Trade  : 

The  Sugar  Question,  34-38 

The  Tariff  in  Canada,  43-49 

The  Tariff  in  Australia,  51 

The  Tariff  in  Austria,  7 1 

A  European  Customs  Union,  70-73 

Reciprocity,  71,  73 

Free  Trade,  133 

The  Comii  g   Slump  in   Protection, 
160 
Quarterly  Rtfiav  referred  to,  iS 
Racing,  etc.,  131 
Railways  : 

Railways  in  the  United  States,  142 

George       Stephenson        and        the 
'•Rocket,"  139 

American  Locomotives,  etc.,  in  Eng- 
land. 140-142 
Redmond,  John, 

Portrait,  25 

Other  References,  25,  26,  44 
Reid,  Sir  Wtmvss,  on  the  West  Indies, 

Reid,   W  hitelaw,   on  the   Ministers  of 

the  Crown,  16,  iS 
Religion,  i^ee  Church  and  Christianity 
Remus,  Uncle,  iio 


Index, 


169 


Republic  and  Monarchy,  14 

Keunion  of  the  English-Speaking  Race, 

14-28,  151-163 
Reunion  Day,  158 
Kevia.u  of  Reiuews  retrretl  to,  51 
Jieview  of  Reviews  (America)   referred 

to,  113 
Rroiew  0/ Reviexcs  (Australasia)  referred 

to,  51 
Revue  de  Paris  cjuoted,  70 
Rhodes,  Cecil  J., 

Portrait,  29 

On  S.  Africa,  2S-34 

On  Argentina,  87 

On  the  American  Constitution,  19 

On  Anglo- American  Federation,  153 

Other  References,  140,  144 
Robert  College,  75-76 
Roberts,  Earl,  and  the  Army  in  India, 

83 
Rockefeller,  J.  D.,  144 
Roosevelt,  President  Theodore, 

Portrait,  2 

On  Canada  and    the  United  States, 
44,  48 

On  Reciprocity,  73 

On  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  9I-95 

On  the  American  Navy,  142 

On  the  Trust,  145 

Other  References,  33,  62,  79,  85 
Rosebeiy,  Earl  of, 

On  American  Energ)-,  138 

On  Anglo-American  Reunion,  152 
Russell,  T.  \V.,  on  French  Quebec,  46 
Russia  : 

Population,  Finance,  etc.,  11 

A  Democratic  Country,  65 

A  Franco- Russian  Alliance,  160 

Russia  and  the  Unite<l  States,  74,  81 
Russia,    Tsar    Nicolas   II.   of,    on    the 

Americanisation  of  Europe,  76 
Ryswick,  Treaty  of,  39 
Salisbury,  Marquis  of,  on  the  American 

Constitution,  19 
Samoa,  German  and  American,  78-79 
^jan  Domingo,  38 
.San  Stefano,  Treaty  of,  75 
Sandwich  Ids.  :  American  Annexation 

of  Hawaii,  78 
Sankey,  Ira  D.,  103 

Portrait,  100 
Santa  Lucia,  34 
.Sargent,  J.  S.,  115 
Scandinavians  in  America,  63 
.Science  in  the  United  .States,  116-117 
Scientific  American  quoted,  148 
Seddon,  R.  J., 

Portrait,  57 

Other  Reference,  59 
Segur,  Pierre  de,  quoted,  70 
September  3  as  Reunion  Day,  158 
Servia,  King  Alexander  of,  123 
Seward,  Secretary,  on  Canada  and  the 

Unitpd  States,  42 
Shaw,  Dr.  Albert, 

On  Home  Rule,  27,  156 

On  the  West  Indies,  38 

On  the  British  Empire,  156-157 
Sheldon,  Rev.  C.  M.,  no 
Sherman,     Senator,    on    International 

Arbitration,  96 
Shipping  and  Shipbuilding  : 

Shipbuilding  in  England  and  in  the 
United  States,  142-144 


Shipjiing  and  .Shipbuilding — continued. 
'Vht:  Deutschland ;  Illustration,  146 
The  Leyland  Line  of  Steamers  sold 
to  J.  P.  Morgan,  144 

Slick,  Sam,  109  ;  quoted,  161-162 

Smith,  Adam,  on  Anglo-American 
Federation,  151-152 

Smith,  Prof.  Goldwin, 
Portrait,  40 

On  the  French  in  Canada,  46 
On  Canada  and  England,  95 

Sotaro,  Iba,  Assassin  of  Hoshi  Torn, 
82-83 

.Sousa,  [.  P.,  117 

South  America  : 
Statistics,  86 
The  Nationalities  in  Latin  America, 

86 
Religion  of  S.  America,  98-99 
Tne  Monroe  Doctrine  and  S.  America, 

68,  85,  90-95 
The  Isthmian  Canal,  88-90 
British  Capital  in  S.  America,  85-87 
Brazil  for  the  Germans,  67-68,  88 
Argentina  for  the  Germans,  87 
American  Trade  with  S.  America,  87 
The  Americanisation  of  S.  America, 
83-88 

Spain  and  Her  Colonies,  see  Cuba, 
Porto  Rico,  Philippine  Ids. 

Spain,  Princess  Eulalie  of,  on  the 
American  Girl,  126 

Spectator  quoted,  54 

Spiritualism  in  the  United  States,  103 

Sport  in  America,  129-132 

Starr,  Prof,  on  the  American  Type,  61 

Stephenson,  George,  139 

Steven-on,  Mr.,  on  Great  Britain  and 
the  Colonies,  160-161 

.Stockton,  Frank,  154 

Stone,  Miss,  Ameiican  Missionary, 
captured  by  Brigands  in  Macedonia, 
73-75  ;  Portrait,  75 

Stowe,  Mrs.  Harriet  Bcecher,  107-109] 

.Sugar-Growing  in    the    West    Indies, 

34-38 

Summing-Up,  147-164 

Sutherland,  Mr.  on  German  Emigra- 
tion to  Australia,  58 

Sydney  Bulletin,  30,  55,  56 

Tammany  and  the  Foreigner  in 
America,  61 

Tammany  in  Japan,  82-83 

Taschereau,  Cardinal,  46 

Tehuantepec  Railway,  90 

Temperance  Reform  in  the  United 
States,  103-104 

Temple,  Sir  Richard,  on  the  English- 
.Speaking  World  compared  with 
Russia,  Germany,  and  France,  1 1 

Theatre  and  the  Drama  in  the  United 
States,  by  W.  Archer,  118-121 

Times,  III,  149;  quoted,  28 

Tobacco  Trust,  146 

Tocqueville,  Alexis  de,  106 
On  American  Democracy,  150 

Toru,  Hoshi,  Assassination  of,  82-83 

Tourgee,  A.  W.,  on  Anglo-American 
Reunion,  l6l 

Trade,  see  Finance,  &c. 

Transvaal,  &c.,  see  under  South  Africa 

Trend  of  the  New  Century,  7 

Trinidad,  34 

Trusts,  144-146 


Tsilka,  Mrs.,  captured  by  Brigands  in 

Macedonia,  74 
Turkey  : 

Treaty  of  San  -Stefano,  75 

Berlin  Treaty,  75 

Macedonia  under  Turkish  Rule,  74- 

75 
Capture  of  Miss  Stone  by  Brigands 

in  Macedonia,  73-75 
American    Missionaries    in    Turkey, 

-^c.,  73-78 
Robert  College,  75-76 
The  Principality  ol  Bulgaria,  75-76 
The       American      Missionaries     in 

Asiatic  Turkey,  76 
Americanisation     of     the     ( >ttoman 
Empire,  73-78 
Tuskegee  College,  62 
Twain,  Mark  (S.  L.  Clemens) : 
Portrait,  105 
On  Australia,  55-56 
On    the    American    Missionaries   in 

China,  82 
Other  Reference,  1 10 
Twentieth  Century  and  Its  Trend,  7 
Uitlan<lers  of  the  Transvaal,  see  under 

Afiica. 
United     Kingdom     and     the     British 

Empire,  see  Colonies  and  Empire. 
United  States  : 
.Social,  etc.  : 
The  United  States  and  the  British 

Empire,  7  ;  Maps  8,  79 
Population  and  Area,  9-1 1,  25,  42, 

61,  62 
The  Crucible  of  Nations,  59-64 
The    Foreign    Element    and    the 

English  Language,  60-64 
The  British  in  America,  25-26,  62 
The  Irish  in  America,  25,  63 
The  German  Element,  62,  67 
The  .Scandinavian  Element,  63 
The  Negroes,  62-63 
Treatment  ol  the  Indians,  50 
Loyalty  of  the  American  Citizen, 

19 
The  Secret  of  American  Success, 

i47-'5i 

Education,    147-148 

Democracy,  147-151 

Incentives  to  Labour,  147,  149-150 

Religion,  98-104 

American  Missions  ;  Statistics,  78 

American  Missionaries  in  Africa, 
78  ;  in  Asia,  82-83  ;  in  Turkev, 
&c.,  73-8 

Robert  College  in  Turkey,  75-76 

Literature  and  Journalism,  104-114 

Theatre  and  the  Drama,  by  W. 
Archer,  118-121 

Art,  Science,  and  Music,  114   118 

American  Caricaturists,  112 

The  Enfranchisement  of  Women, 
103 

The  Women's  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union,  103-104 

Marriage  and  Society,  121-128 

Sport,  129-132 
Finance,  <S:c.  : 

F'inance,  II,  132-1^3 

Reciprocity,  71,  73 

Trusts,  144-146 

Trade  with  Canada,  43-45 

American  Capital  in  Canada,  45 


170 


Index. 


United  States — continued. 
Finance— rontittuei/. 

American  Trade  with  Jamaica,  <S:c., 

37-38  .      ^ 

American  Trade  v.ith  S.  Anierua, 

87 

Exports  to  Germany,  68 

Tlie  United  btates  and  China,  81- 
82 

American   Relations  with  Japan, 
82-83 

Korea  ;  an  Opening  for  American 
Capital,  83 

American     Machinery,     Locomo- 
tives, &c.,  in  England,  137-144 

Shipbuilding   in  America   and   in 
England,  142-144 

The  American  Invasion,  132-146 
Political  and  Historical  : 

The  Capitol,  Washington  ;   Illus- 
tration, 20 

The  American  Constitution,  14-18, 

50.  53 
The  Declaration  of  Independence, 

1776,  21 
The  Canadians  and  the  Civil  War, 

43 
An  American  Navy,  142 
What  the  Monroe  Doctrine  is,  38, 

90-95 
The    Monroe    Doctrine    and    the 

Klondyke  Mines,  46 
The  Alaskan  Dispute,  94 
The  Venezuelan  Dispute,  30,  31, 

90,  94,  96 
Fisheries  Dispute    between    Nova 

Scotia  and  Massachusetts,  45 
Kussia  and  the  United  Slates,  74, 

81 
Capture  of  Miss  Stone  by  Brigands 

in  Macedonia,  73-75 
The    United    States    and     Inter- 
national Arbitration,  95-97 
Expansion  and  Americanisation  : 
American  Expansion,  79,  81 
American  Rule  in  Cuba,  26,  35,  38 
Annexation  of  Porto  Rico,  35-38 
Annexation  of  the  Philippine  Ids., 

26,  79 


United  States — contintud. 

Expansion     and    Americanisation — 

sontinued.    . 
Annexation  of  Hawaii,  78 
America  and  Samoa,  78-79 
The  Americanisation  of  England, 

14-18 
The   Americanisation   of  Ireland, 

19-28 
The  Americanisation  of  S.  Africa, 

28-34 
The  Americanisation  of  the  West 

Indies,  &c.,  34-38 
The  Americanisation  of  Newfound- 
land and  Canada,  39-5 I 
Suggested      Purchase      of     Nova 

Scotia,  &c.,  46 
Americanisation  of  Australia  and 

New  Zealand,  51-59 
A  Monroe  Doctrine  for  the  Pacific, 

,  53-54 
The  Americanisation  of  Germany, 

65-70 
The   Americanisation   of  Austria, 

7^-73 
The  Americanisation  of  the  Otto- 
man Empire,  73-78 
The     Americanisation     of     Asia, 

78-83 
America  and  India,  83 
The    Americanisation   of    Central 

and  South  America,  83-90 
The     Monroe     Doctrine    and    S. 

America,  68,  85,  90-95 
The  Isthmian  Canal,  88-90 
How  America  Americanises,  98-146 
Summing- Up,  147-164 
A  Look  Ahead,  151-157 
Steps  towards  Reunion,  1 51-163 
The  End  Thereof,  163-164 
Utrecht,  Treaty  of,  39,  41 
Vendlandt,  Dr.  W.,  oruthe  Ameiican 

Peril,  71 
Venezuelan  Dispute,    30,    31,   90,  94, 
96  .  ^  /.-.i 

Vincent,  Sir  Howard,  on  S.  America, 

86 
Vogel,  Sir  Julius,  on  New  Zealand  and 
the  Pacific,  54 


Waldersee,  Countess  von,  121 
Waldstein,    Prof.,  on  the  Elements  of 

Nationality,  60 
Walsh,     Rodney,     on      the      English 

Language  in  the  Uniteil  States,  63 
Washington,  Booker,  and  the  Negroes, 

62 
Washington,  George, 
i'ortrait,  17 
Quoted,  157" 
Wellman,  Walter,  on  Porto  Rico,  37 
West  Indies  : 

British   and    American    Possessions ; 

Map,  36 
The  Sugar  Question,  34-37 
England  and   the  West  Indies,    see 

Jamaica,  etc.,  etc. 
American  Rule  in  the  West  Indies, 

see  Cuba,  Porto  Rico 
Danish  Possessions,  94,  95 
Germany  and  the  West  Indies,  34-35 
The    Americanisation    of    the    West 
Indies,  etc.,  34-38 
Whistler,  J.  Mc  N.,  115 
White,    Arthur,    on    Anglo-American 

Federation,  160 
Whitman,  Walt,  109 
Whitney,  W.  C,  131 
Wideneos,    Mr.,  on  American   Demo- 
cracy, 150-151 
Willard,  Miss  Frances,  104 

Portrait,  100 
Wilson.  Gen.  James  H.,  on  the  Monroe 

Doctrine,  91 
Women  in  the  United  States  : 

The    Enfranchisement    of     Women, 

'°3 
The  Women's  Christian  Temperance 

Union,  10^-104 
Scientists,  116-117 
The  American  Woman   in  Society, 
121-128 
World's  Work  quoted,  140 
Wright,  Carroll  D.,  on  the  Population 

of  the  United  States,  61 
Wu  Ting  Fang  on  the  United  States 

and  china,  81-82 
Yachting  :  The  America  Cup,  etc.,  129 
Yerkcs,  C.  T.,  126,  139 


(  I/I  ) 


AMERICA  AND   THE    HAMBURG-AMERICAN   LINE. 


THE    FLEET    AND    ITS    STORY. 


WHEN  towards  the  middle  period  of  the 
nineteenth  century  the  merchant  princes 
of  conservative  Europe  woke  up  to  the 
enormous  potentialities  of  the  vast  territories, 
stretching  from  the  storm-swept  rocks  of  Cape 
Horn  northwards  across  the  Equatorial  Tropics  to 
the   golden    semi-arctic    regions    of   Alaska    and 


Twin-screw  Express  Steamer  "Deutschland,"  1901; 


Labrador,  they  suddenly  realised,  that  this  great 
new  land,  which  combined  within  her  ocean-fringed 
boundaries  the  scenic  beauties,  natural  wealth,  and 
endless  resources  of  any  other  zone  known,  was 
only  waiting  for  the  practical  development  of  its 
many  as  yet  untapped  riches. 

It  was  thus  that  the  International  Commerce  of 
the  Old  World  knocked  hesitatingly  at  young 
Columbia's  portals,  and  found  them  to  open  readily 
to  enter  a  gigantic  new  field  which,  for  the  safe 
employment  of  capital,  the  establishment  of  epoch- 
making  industries,  and  as  a  satisfactory  new  home 
for  Europe's  overflow  of  humanity,  was  rapidly  to 
astonish  the  civilised  world. 

Thenceforth  America's  abnormally  quick  and 
prosperous  advance  and  her  closer  ties  of  mutually 
profitable  commerce  with  Europe  were  assured. 
Presently  other  influences  for  the  successful  initiation 
and  development  of  numberless  great  enterprises 
were  felt  far  and  wide,  far  even  across  those  seas 
which  after  all  but  unite  the  nations  they  divide. 
Nothing  could  illustrate  the  above  better  than  the 
history  of  one  of  the  most  successful  undertakings 
launched  into  existence  at  the  time  referred  to 
above,  viz.,  that  of  the  enormous  corporation,  known 
to  every  one  to-day  as  the  Hamburg- American 
Line. 

On  May  27,  1847,  a  few  of  the  most  prominent 
Hamburg  merchants  met  in  private  conclave  and 
combined  their  ideas  in  a  scheme  of  navigation 
enterprise.  Though  it  was  at  that  period  not  an 
easy  task  to  convince  every  one  of  the  necessity  to 
organise  a  regular  service  between  the  Hanseatic 
port  and  New  York,  the  foundation  of  the  Hamburg- 
.American  Packet  Company  was  finally  decided 
upon  on  that  date. 

Not  only  in   its  name,  but  also  in  many  other 


172 


The  Ainericanisation  of  the  World. 


ways,  has  this  company  been  at  all  times  in 
closest  connection  with  America,  and  mainly, 
thanks  to  its  popularity  and  the  encouragement 
which  from  the  ver>-  start  it  also  found  in  this 
hospitable  country,  it  was  enabled  to  develop 
its  capabilities  on  an  ever-increasing  scale.  The 
funds  with  which  it  was  started  amounted  actually 
to  only  one-third  per  cent,  of  the  present  capital  ; 
and  whilst  the  company's  flag  is  nowadays  flying 
over  all  the  seas  of  the  globe,  the  total  tonnage  of 
its  fleet  is  likewise  Xo-d3\  unegiialleii  by  that  of  any 
ether  existing  steamship  company. 


The 
"America," 

of  the 
Hamburgh- 
American 
Line,  1848. 


The  first  boats  on  this  Line  were  sailing-ships, 
bearing  the  names  of  the  countries  they  were 
destined  to  connect,  viz.,  Deutschland  and  America. 
They  made  their  first  appearance  in  the  ports  of 
the  States  in  October,  1848,  and  at  once  won 
universal  appreciation. 

The  voyages  were  executed  with  great  regularity, 
requiring  about  thirty  days  east  and  about  fortA' 
days  westward,  and  aJthough  these  results  were  up 
to  all  expectations  of  the  period,  the  company 
availed  itself  of  the  ver>'  first  opportunity  which 
arose,  and  decided,  after  an  existence  of  only  five 
years,  to  order  the  building  of  two  steamers.  These 
two  steamboats,  and  two  others  which  were  ac- 
quired soon  afterwards,  proved  to  be  verj-  advan- 
tageous, and  were  extremely  well  patronised  both 
at  home  as  also  in  America.  Passenger  services 
at  that  period  were  of  course  not  to  be  compared 
Avith  present  dimensions  ;  but  the  company's  boats 
were  always  much  favoured  by  travellers  to  Europe 
from  America,  whilst  American  products,  mails, 
etc.,  provided  good  return  freights.  To  maintain 
its  premier  position  the  Hamburg-American  Line 
increased  the  tonnage  of  its  fleet  continuously,  and 
did  its  utmost  to  be  in  constant  touch  with  Ameri- 
cans and  affairs  in  their  country-.  Thus  in  1850 
•only  1,420  persons  were  forwarded  on  their  boats  ; 
yet  the  number  in  1S65  had  already  increased  to 
30,000  passengers,  and  the  freight  traffic  developed 
steadily  in  a  similar  proportion.     In  1867  regular 


lines  were  established  to  New  Orleans  and  Cuba, 
and  soon  after  an  additional  service  to  the  West 
Indies  was  initiated. 

The  following  years  brought  forth  ver>'  strong 
rivals  for  the  company  in  the  ocean  trade  with 
-\merica,  but  the  Hamburg-American  Line  proved 
itself  victorious  by  absorbing,  in  1875,  its  chief 
competitor — the  corporation  known  as  the  ^'^  EagW" 
Line  ;  and  with  its  total  tonnage  again  increased 
by  this  combination  and  by  newly-constructed 
steamers,  the  various  services  were  kept  up  with 
conspicuous  regularitA"  for  many  years.  The 
most  far-reaching  event  in  the  history  of  the 
Hamburg  -  American  Line,  however,  was  the 
decision  arrived  at  in  1887,  shortly  after  the 
present  Director  -  General,  Mr.  A.  Ballin,  had 
taken  over  the  management  of  the  company — 
viz.,  to  adopt  the  twin-screw  system,  and  to  forth- 
with build yb«r  tivin-screw  Express  steamers.  This 
progressive  resolve  startled  the  shipping  world 
and  aroused  the  keenest  interest  everv-where.  A 
passenger  cabin  service  was  soon  established  by 
this  new  fleet,  which,  for  numbers  carried  and 
comforts  of  accommodation,  surpassed  any  other  in 
existence,  and  further  new  lines  were  rapidly 
opened  to  cope  with  the  ever-increasing  freight 
traffic. 


Hamburg- American   Liner   "Deutschland" 
Hoboken  Pier,  New  York. 


at 


Twin-screw  Steamer  "  Pennsylvania,"  1895. 

In  1 891  ever)-  important  port  between  the 
St.  Lawrence  river  and  tropical  Venezuela  was 
connected  with  Europe  by  the  steamers  of  the 
Hamburg- American  Line.  The  enormous  quan- 
tities of  cargo  which  had  to  be  forwarded  by  their 
fleet  to  and  from  New  York,  Baltimore,  Boston, 
Philadelphia,  etc.,  necessitated  a  considerable 
increase  in  the  size  of  the  boats,  and  it  was  in  1895 
that  the  directors  of  the  line  ordered  the  Penn- 
sylvania, the  first  of  the  renowned  steam  leviathans 
with  a  displacement  of  20,000  tons,  of  which 
particular  class  no  less  than  eight  boats  will  soon 
be  running. 

Besides  these  and  numerous  other  new  steamers, 
the  whole  fleets  6f  several  other  companies,  such 
as  the  Hansa,  the  Calcutta,  the  Kingsin,  the  De 
Freitas,  and  Atlas,  etc.,  lines  were  acquired  by 
the  Hamburg- American  Line,  which  once  more 
in  1900  attracted  the  world's  attention  by  putting 
forth  the  record-breaking  Deutschland.  The  feats 
accomplished  by  this  new  Atlantic  greyhound 
were  beyond  all  expectations  ;  her  average  speed 
of  23  f  knots  across  the  ocean  had  been  con- 
sidered an  utter  impossibility  but  a  ver\-  short 
time  ago,  securing  as  it  did  the "  blue  ribbon  " 
of  rapid  ocean  passages  for  the  proprietary- 
company. 


America  and  the  Hamburg- American  Line. 


73 


After  an  existence  of  little  more  than  fifty  years 
this  company's  services  to-day  embrace  the  whole 
globe.  It  now  maintains  no  less  than  thirty-nine 
different  lines,  and  owns  a  fleet  of  134  large  ocean- 
going steamers  registering  668,000  tons,  which  in 
Its  total  exceeds  that  of  any  other  company  up-to- 
date. 

To-day  there  is  no  port  of  any  material  import- 
ance in  the  domains  of  the  great  American  Republic, 
which  has  not  been  touched  by  a  Hamburg- 
American  Liner  ;  there  is  no  town  of  any  conse- 
quence in  its  immense  territories  where  this  company 
is  not  properly  represented.  More  than  40,000 
Americans  travel  yearly  on  its  boats  for  business 
and  pleasure,  even  towards  the  most  remote  places 
of  the  earth  ;  and  if  the  popular  patronage  it  en- 
joys at  present  so  freely  in  America,  as  well  as  at 
home,  is  maintained,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
its  prosperous  records  will  in  the  dim  future  but 
tend  to  draw  the  natural  bonds  of  brotherhood 
between  the  Old  and  the  New  World  closer  than 


S*      £'       £' 


i^*^ 


"  Princessin  Victoria  Louise,"  1901. 


THE    "DKUTSCHLAXD,"    1901. 

Thk  famous  twin-screw  Express  Steamer  Dcutschland,  the 
record-breaker  of  rapid  ocean  trips  of  the  Hamburg-American  Line, 
is  686t  feet  in  length,  having  a  beam  of  67+ feet,  with  a  depth  of 
44i  feet.  Her  registered  tonnage  is  16,502  tons,  and  notwithstanding 
her  enormous  size,  her  lines  of  design  as  afloat  are  the  most  grace- 
ful that  ctn  be  imagined. 

She  is  fitted  with  the  most  powerful  quadruple  expansion  engines, 
developing  up  to  35,000  horse-power,  driving  her  across  the  .Atlantic 
seas  on  either  route  at  an  evenly  maintained  average  speed  of 
23+  knots ;  a  performance  which  has  aroused  the  enthusiastic 
admiration  of  International  civilisation. 

It  is  by  the  continuous  employment  of  a  magnificent  floating  palace, 
such  as  the  Deutichlatid  is  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  that  the 
Hamburg-.American  Line  has  succeeded  so  conspicuously  in  giving 
the  travelling  public  the  convenience  of  reaching  America  m  the 
shortest  possible  lime,  coupled  contemporarily  with  absolute  safety 
and  unexcelled  personal  comforts  whilst  en  route. 


THE    "PRINCESSIN   VICTORIA   LOUISE." 

Thk  luxurious  pleasure  yacht  of  the  Hamburg- American  Line's 
Fleet,  named  after  His  Imperial  Majesty's  only  daughter,  i* 
rapidly  becoming  world-famed  bj;  her  numerous  romantic  and 
picturesque  tours  to  the  most  beautiful  parts  of  the  globe.  Already 
most  successful  and  delightful  visits  have  been  chronicled  by  her  to 
the  ever-verdant  and  historical  coasts  of  the  Riviera  and  the  Mediter- 
ranean, the  mysterious  Orient,  the  Crimea  ;  not  to  speak  of  those 
to  Algiers,  Morocco,  Scandinavia,  and  the  numerous  island  pearls  of 
the  Antilles  in  the  distant  West  Indies. 

The  I'rifuessin  Victoria  Louise  is  built  as  a  powerful  twin-screw 
steamer  ;  she  is  450 feet  in  length,  47  feet  in  beam,  and  draws  30  feet, 
ploughing  the  summer  seas  at  an  average  speed  of  sixteen  knots. 
She  IS  constructed  on  the  best  principles  of  modern  naval  architec- 
ture, and  in  her  external  appearance  is  a  "  thing  of  beauty,"  whilst 
her  magnificent  internal  fittings  defy  description  in  the  small  space 
available  here.  Enough  to  say  that,  from  the  most  comfortable 
state  rooms  to  the  very  exquisite  cuisine,  her  attractions  are  almost 
innumerable,  covering  such  unusual  luxuries  at  sea  as  gymnastic 
halls,  photographic  dark  rooms,  etc.;  the  whole  under  the  charge  of 
most  experienced  officers,  whose  courteous  solicitude  for  the  com- 
f  irt  of  passengers  is  not  the  least  by  far  of  the  many  pleasant 
features  of  this  veritable  ocean  swan. 


(     >-4     ) 


THE    MISSION    OF    THE    CINEMATOGRAPH. 


MANY  years  ago  I  wrote  an  article  entitled 
"  The  Mission  of  the  Magic  Lantern." 
The  article  had  some  considerable  success 
at  the  time,  and  succeeded  in  turning  the  attention 
of  many  people,  educationists  and  others,  to  the 
immense  importance  of  utilising  Eye-gate  as  well 
as  Ear-gate  for  the  purpose  of  education.  Since 
then  so  much  progress  has  been  made  in  the  art 
of  projecting  pictures  upon  screens  that  the  time 
has  come  for  re-writing  that  old  article,  or,  rather 
writing  another  dealing  with  the  later  phases  and 
developments  of  the  methods  by  which  Eye-gate 
can  be  opened  still  more  widely  for  the  admission 
of  information  and  of  ideas.  In  education  the 
first  thing  is  to  interest.  The  one  great  obstacle 
that  lies  in  the  way  of  all  those  who  wish  to  teach 
is  the  difficulty  of  awakening  the  mind.  In  all  our 
teaching  we  rely  too  much  upon  the  ear,  whereas 
you  can  wake  up  the  mind  much  more  rapidly  by 
the  eye.  Far  be  it  from  me  to  say  one  word 
against  oral  teaching.  It  is  invaluable  and  indis- 
pensable, but  picture  teaching  beats  it  hollow, 
especially  in  its  initial  stages.  We  all  recognise 
this  in  infancy,  and  the  first  book  by  which  we 
attract  a  child  is  a  picture-book.  In  the  Books 
for  the  Bairns,  which  are  perhaps  the  most 
successful  of  all  the  publications  I  have  ever  issued, 
the  essential  feature  is  that  there  should  be  a 
picture  on  ever)'  page.  But  we  are  all  children  of 
a  larger  growth,  and  the  picture  is  only  one 
degree  less  necessar}-  for  adults  than  it  is  for 
children.  We  are  slow  in  the  uptake,  and  dull  to 
j,'rasp  a  fresh  idea.  In  order  to  understand  things 
we  have  got  to  see  them,  and  the  great  advantage 
of  pictures  is  that  a  picture  will  at  a  glance  explain 
much  more  clearly  and  intelligently  a  multitude  of 
facts  which  the  most  painstaking  explanation  by 
word  of  mouth  or  by  the  printed  page  would  fail  to 
make  clear. 

HOW   PICTURES   EDUCATE   THE   PUBLIC. 

At  the  present  moment  eveiyone  who  has 
bestowed  any  thought  upon  the  question  is  deeply 
impressed  with  the  necessity  of  stimulating  the 
mind  of  our  people,  and  compelling  the  ordinary 
man  and  the  ordinary-  woman  to  take  an  interest 
in  things  that  ought  to  interest  them,  but  do  not  ; 
and  we  are  all  more  or  less  in  despair  as  to  how 
it  is  to  be  done.  In  some  things  the  public  is 
interested.  And  how  is  the  public  interested  ? 
Take,  for  instance,  the  war.  What  interested  the 
man  in  the  street  in  the  war .''  Very  largely  the 
pictures  of  the  war.  The  illustrated  weeklies  laid 
themselves  out  to  interpret  the  telegrams  and  the 
war  correspondence  by  bringing  before  the  man 
in  the  street  a  living  vivid  image  of  the  scenes 
which  are  actually  being  witnessed  by  human  eyes 
in  the  far-off"  veldt.  In  like  manner  the  yacht  race 
owes  no  small  part  of  its  popularity  to  the  pictures 
of  the  yachts.  It  may  be  argued  that  the  pictures 
followed  the  interest  rather  than  preceded  it,  but 
they  acted  and  re-acted  upon  each  other,  and 
undoubtedlv  while   manv  were  interested  in   the 


war  before  they  had  seen  the  pictures,  a  great 
number  of  people  first  began  to  take  interest  in 
the  war  because  of  the  pictures  of  its  progress. 

Not  only  do  pictures  attract  attention,  but  they 
produce  a  deeper  impression.  Let  any  one  look 
backwards  in  his  own  history,  and  he  will  find  the 
things  that  have  lodged  most  indelibly  in  his 
memory  have  been  things  he  has  seen  rather  than 
things  that  he  has  heard.  I  can  see  before  my 
mind's  eye  to-day  as  vividly  as  if  it  were  yesterday 
a  picture  which  I  saw  forty-five  years  ago  of  one 
of  the  battles  in  the  Crimea.  It  probably  was 
wholly  imaginary,  especially  the  white  horse  that 
figured  conspicuously  in  the  centre  ;  but  after  the 
lapse  of  all  these  years  that  white  horse  is  still 
vividly  impressed  upon  my  mental  retina.  Almost 
as  far  back  do  I  remember  my  first  panorama. 
Out  of  one  of  the  painted  pictures  I  still  see  the 
head  of  a  bear  looking  out  of  a  hollow  trunk. 
Nearly  everything  else  I  was  then  taught  has  more 
or  less  faded  away  or  blended  in  the  indeterminate 
vague  expanse  ;  but  the  picture  stands  out. 
Hence,  if  we  are  really  to  set  ourselves  earnestly 
to  the  task  of  quickening  the  mind  of  our  people, 
we  must  resort  to  pictures.  More  pictures,  and 
ever  more  I 

ESPECIALLY  THE   LIVING   PICTURE. 

Now,  just  when  our  need  is  the  greatest,  science 
has  come  to  our  aid  and  provided  us  with  an 
admirable  instrument  for  presenting  pictures  to 
the  eye  of  the  multitude  much  more  vividly  and 
with  more  life-like  realism  than  has  ever  heretofore 
been  possible.  The  living  picture,  which  has  long 
been  one  of  the  most  popular  turns  in  the  music- 
hall  entertainment,  must  now  take  its  place  as  one 
of  the  potent  weapons  with  which  the  well-equipped 
educationist  goes  forth  to  combat  the  hosts  of 
ignorance.  At  present  the  potentialities  of  the 
living  picture  have  only  been  realised  by  the  show- 
man. It  has  still  to  be  utilised  by  the  School,  by 
the  College,  by  the  University.  The  magic  lantern 
is  ver)'  good  in  that  it  enables  you  to  show  excel- 
lent pictures  on  a  large  scale  before  a  great  crowd ; 
but  with  very  few  exceptions  the  picture  thrown  by 
the  stereopticon  upon  a  sheet  was  as  motionless  as 
an  oil-painting.  Dissolving  views  and  mechanical 
arrangements  only  to  a  very  small  extent  introduce 
an  element  of  motion.  But  if  a  picture  is  good,  a 
moving  picture  is  infinitely  better,  for  there  you 
have  not  only  form  and  colour  but  the  motion 
which  is  life  ;  you  have  the  dramatic  element 
vividly  present  before  your  eyes.  It  renders 
possible  the  presentation  of  a  living  drama  without 
the  expense  of  having  to  maintain  a  whole 
dramatic  troupe,  and  to  provide  a  stage  and  its 
accessories. 

THE  WARWICK  TRADING   COMPANV. 

Anyone  who  has  paid  a  visit  to  an  exhibition* 
nay,  anyone  who  has  even  walked  down  a  crowded 
street,  must  ha\e  been  impressed  by  the  fact  that 
nothing  in  the  world  attracts  the  attention  of  the 


The  Mission  of  tJic  Cinc7iiatograph. 


175 


ordinary  man,  woman,  or  child  so  mnch  as  some- 
thing that  moves.  The  most  marvellous  mechan- 
ism that  ever  was  invented  by  human  ingenuity,  if 
it  stands  motionless  in  a  glass  case,  will  attract  fewer 
observers  than  the  simplest  apple-paring  machine 
if  the  latter  is  only  at  work.  It  is,  however, 
unnecessary  to  argue  the  question  of  interest, 
because  the  music-halls  have  settled  that  for  us 
long  a-io.  The  most  magnificent  pictures  in  the 
world  would  fail  to  command  the  attention  of 
music-hall  audiences,  who  will  sit  in  rapt  attention 
before  the  animated  photographs  which  are  thrown 
upon  the  screen  in  an  interval  between  the  per- 
formances of  a  juggler  and  those  of  a  contortionist. 


The  Bioscope  Projector. 

What  now  has  to  be  done  is  to  yoke  this 
modern  invention,  which  has  half  a  dozen  different 
names,  to  the  service  of  propagandism  and  of 
education.  Whether  we  call  it  a  kinetoscope,  a 
biograph,  or  a  bioscope  is  immaterial.  All  that 
is  indispensable  is  the  thing  itself. 

In  order  to  form  some  idea  as  to  what  this  thing 
itself  is,  how  it  has  worked,  and  to  what  extent  it 
has  made  its  way  amongst  us,  1  spent  an  afternoon 
this  last  month  at  the  headquarters  of  thj  Bio- 
scope Company.  The  animated  picture  business 
was    introduced   into   Europe  in   1894  by  Messrs. 


Maguire  and  Baucus.  They  afterwards  formed 
the  Warwick  Trading  Company,  Limited,  with  the 
following  directors:  J.  1).  Baucus,  chairman,  A.  J. 
Kllis,  K.  Z.  Maguire,  J.  O.  Nicholson,  H.  W.  Mack, 
directors,  and  Chas.  Urban,  managing  director. 
The  W'arwick  Trading  Company,  Limited,  is  one  of 
the  most  enterprising  of  the  firms  which  have  taken 
hold  of  an  American  invention  and  naturalised  it 
on  British  soil.  It  has  its  head  offices  at  WarNvick 
Court,  in  Holborn.  It  has  a  theatre  and  photo- 
graphic film  plant  at  Brighton  for  photographing 
its  pictures  and  manufacturing  its  finished  film 
subject-rolls  for  the  market,  and  a  large  and  grow- 
ing factory  for  manufacturing  the  machines  and 
sensitized  film  stock  in  an  outlying  district  of 
London. 

"(,)UICK   WORK.'' 

The  company  have  just  taken  over  two  four- 
story  buildings  in  the  vicinity  of  Warwick  Court 
for  a  further  extension  of  their  laboratories,  repair 
shops,  film  manufacturing  plant  and  shipping 
rooms.  Extension  of  film  plant  was  necessitated 
by  the  great  demand  from  exhibitors  and 
theatrical  managers  for  quick  deliveries  of  films,  to 
all  points  of  England,  of  any  event  of  topical 
interest,  such  as  the  Derby,  Grand  National, 
Henley  Regatta,  processions,  etc.  This  means 
organisation  and  systematic  execution  of  the 
work  in  hand,  requiring  two  forces  of  dark-room 
operators,  one  working  force  during  the  day  and 
the  other  all  night.  Any  negatives  which  reach 
Warwick  Court  by  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
can  be  manipulated  so  that  twenty-five  to  fifty 
prints  (according  to  length)  can  be  supplied  to  the 
exhibitor  for  showing  at  the  halls  the  same  evening. 
The  demand  for  some  subjects  reaches  300  to 
750  copjos  for  immediate  delivery.  This  number 
of  complete  films  are  usually  finished  within  forty- 
eight  hours  after  the  receipt  of  the  negative. 

Lightning  delivery  of  films  to  the  provincial 
exhibitor  by  passenger  and  express  trains 
also  means  hustling.  In  short,  the  present 
phase  of  the  animated  picture  business  can 
be  likened  to  the  preparing  and  distributing 
of  a  special  edition  of  an  illustrated 
journal. 

As  millions  of  people  have  seen  the 
animated  pictures  who  have  never  seen  or, 
if  they  have  seen,  have  never  had  explained 
to  them  the  way  in  which  the  pictures  are 
produced,  it  may  not  be  without  interest  to 
enter  into  some  detail  to  explain  exactly  how 
the  results  with  which  we  are  familiar  are 
produced. 

The  first  thing  indispensable  is  the  lantern  ; 
the  second  is  the  light ;  the  third  the  bioscope 
mechanism  ;  and  fourth  the  pictures.  Of  the 
lantern  itself  there  is  not  much  need  to  s|)eak. 
It  differs  in  no  respect  from  the  ordinary  magic 
lantern.  Indeed,  an  ordinary  magic  lantern 
can  be  fitted  with  the  apparatus  necessary-  for 
producing  animated  pictures.  It  is  different, 
however,  when  we  come  to  the  light.  The  better 
the  light,  the  better  the  pictures.  Magic  lanterns 
are  operated  either  with  oil  lamps,  with  gas,  with 
electricity,  with  the  oxy-hydrogen  light,  or  with 
the  lime  light.,  It  is  jwssible  to  exhibit  animated 
pictures  with  the  oil  light,  but  the  result  is  natu- 


176 


The  Americanisation  of  the   World. 


rally  not  so  good  as  when  the  oxyhydrogen  is 
used,  or  the  lime  light.  Concerning  oil  lamps,  it  is 
unnecessary  to  speak.  Oxy-hydrogen  light  is  very 
good  when  gas  is  procurable  ;  but  it  entails  the 
carrying  about  of  cylinders  charged  under  great 
pressure.  Electric  light  is  the  best  for  projecting 
animated  pictures,  and  very  many  and  elaborate 
are  the  apparati  used  to  press  it  into  the  service 
of  the  lantern. 

THE  MAKING  OF  THE   PICTURES. 

We  now  come  to  the  projecting  mechanism  and 
the  pictures,  without  which  the  best  of  lanterns,  the 
most  brilliant  of  lights,  would  be  of  no  avail. 
This  brings  us  to  the  camera,  which  is  specially 
made  for  the  taking  of  animated  pictures.  It  is 
a  ver}'  ingenious  piece  of  mechanism,  and  mar- 
vellous for  the  perfection  of  its  parts  and  the 
facility  with  which  the  whole  thing  works.  Ever)' 
amateur  photographer  is  well  aware  of  the  difficulty 
of  posing  a  subject  and  of  taking  a  picture  even 
when  he  is  not  hurried  for  time  ;  but  the  essence 
of  an  animated  picture  is  that  the  pictures  must 
be  taken  with  immense  rapidity  and  in  rapid  suc- 
cession. The  bioscope  camera  differs  from  an 
ordinary  camera  in  the  fact  that  it  has  what 
resembles  the  handle  of  a  barrel-organ  on  one 
side.  The  handle  is  indispensable  for  operating 
the  mechanism  and  winding  the  long  ribbon  of 
sensitised  film  upon  which  the  photographs  are 
taken.  Instead  of  exposing  a  plate,  the  camera 
used  for  the  production  of  animated  pictures 
exposes  a  film  in  the  shape  of  a  long  ribbon  not 
more  than  i  \  inches  in  breadth,  which  is  wound 
round  a  spool  by  the  aid  of  cog-wheels  working  in 
the  holes  punched  on  both  sides  of  the  film. 
The  film  is  fed  into  the  dark  chamber  of  the 
camera  in  coils  150  feet  or  longer,  from  whence 
it  passes  through  the  mechanism  opposite  the 
lens,  and  is  coiled  upon  another  spool  in  a 
chamber  immediately  below.  When  the  camera 
is  in  working,  it  would  appear  that  the  operator 
was  winding  off  the  film  steadily  at  the  rate  of 
about  50  feet  a  minute.  Nor  can  the  eye  detect 
any  halt  in  the  steady  roll  of  the  film  off  the  reel 
across  the  ray  that  passes  through  the  lens.  But 
if  the  film  were  constantly  moving,  the  resultant 
image  would  be  badly  blurred.  The  nicety  of  the 
mechanism  consists  in  the  fact  that,  although  the 
turning  of  the  handle  is  continuous,  the  cog-wheels 
are  so  arranged  that  when  the  film  passes  through 
the  mechanism  it  halts  for  the  fortieth  of  a  second, 
during  which  the  ray  of  light  reflected  from  the  object 
photographed  strikes  the  film  through  the  lens  and 
registers  itself  indelibly.  By  this  means  150  feet 
of  film  can  be  exposed  in  three  minutes,  and  during 
these  three  minutes  no  fewer  than  l,\oo  distinct 
photographic  pictures  will  have  been  impressed 
upon  the  sensitive  surface  of  the  film.  It  is  mar- 
vellous, almost  miraculous,  and  a  short  time  ago 
would  have  been  regarded  as  absolutely  beyond 
the  bounds  of  possibility.  But  all  difficulties  have 
been  triumphantly  surmounted.  The  bioscope 
camera  is  no  sooner  in  position  and  properly  fixed 
than  the  operator  literally  grinds  off  small  pictures 
about  the  size  of  a  postage  stamp,  but  each  com- 
plete in  itself,  at  the  rate  of  800  a  minute,  or  16  a 
second. 


AN   AMAZING  CALCULATION. 

As  the  film  registers  the  impressions  at  the  rate 
of  16  a  second,  it  is  obvious  that  between  one 
picture  and  another  the  difference  is  almost  imper- 
ceptible ;  but  if  you  compare  the  first  with  the 
twentieth,  or  still  more  with  the  sixtieth,  each 
successive  movement  can  easily  be  seen  without  the 
least  difficulty.  It  is  a  somewhat  appalling  thought 
that  one's  casual  motions,  the  almost  accidental 
actions,  may  be  registered  by  this  photographic 
coffee-mill,  and  reproduced  indefinitely  for  ever- 
more. When  watching  the  machine  in  action,  it 
occurred  to  me  to  calculate  how  many  miles  of  film 
would  be  required  to  preserve  the  exact  living 
picture  of  all  one's  waking  life.  Supposing  that  a 
man  lives  to  fulfil  the  three-score  years  and  ten  of 
the  Psalmist,  and  supposing  that  one-third  of  his 
life  is  spent  in  sleep,  how  many  miles  of  film  do 
you  think  it  would  require  to  register  all  his  acts 
and  deeds,  his  goings  and  comings  from  the  time 
of  his  birth  until  his  death  ?  It  is  no  use  going- 
into  the  vers-  minute  figures,  but  broadly  speaking 
it  would  require  200,000  miles  of  film  in  order  to 


The  Bioscope  Caniera. 

make  a  complete  register  of  the  acts  of  a  single 
life.  On  these  200,000  miles  of  film  there  would 
be  impressed  no  fewer  than  12,000,000,000  separate 
pictures. 

But  if  the  camera  'were  kept  trained  upon  a 
single  individual  through  the  whole  of  his  wakingr 
hours,  whether  he  was  at  rest  or  whether  he  was 
in  motion,  it  would  undoubtedly  enable  those  who 
come  after  us  to  reconstruct  the  actual  living  life 
of  a  man  of  the  twentieth  century  better  than 
any  amount  of  description.  Of  the  12,000,000,000 
pictures,  10,000,000,000  would  probably  consist  of 
endless  repetitions,  which  would  be  endlessly  boring- 
to  the  beholder.  But  without  going  to  such 
extremes  it  is  possible  for  anyone  with  the  aid  of 
this  instrument  to  preserve  a  realistic  picture  of 
human  life  under  conditions  of  the  present  day.  It 
is  astonishing  how  vivid  a  picture,  complete  in  all 
its  details,  can  be  reeled  off  in  three  minutes.  It 
is  not  too  much  to  say  that  a  dozen  150-foot  reels 
would  enable  anyone  to  form  a  more  vivid,  com- 
prehensive and  complete  picture  of  human  life 
from  the  cradle  to  the  grave  in  half  an  hour  than 


The  Mission  of  tht  Cinematograph. 


177 


he  could  possibly  realise  from  the  reading  of  half  a 
lifetime. 

There  is  hardly  any  kind  of  effect  which  cannot 
be  reproduced  by  this  ingenious  instrument. 
Nothing  is  niore  difficult  to  reproduce  than  the 
flight  of  birds,  but  one  of  the  first  pictures  shown 
me  at  Warwick  Court  was  the  feeding  of  the 
pigeons  of  St.  Mark's  in  Venice.  Nothmg  could 
be  more  life-like  than  the  fluttering  and  hovering 
of  the  great  cloud  of  pigeons  which  find  their  daily 
bread  in  the  huge  square.  A  much  less  pleasing, 
but  for  the  purposes  of  demonstration  perhaps 
even  more  effective  illustration  of  the  capacity  ot 
the  bioscope,  is  afforded  by  the  picture  of  a  cock- 
fight in  Manila.  There  upon  the  sheet  you  see  the 
poor  wretched  birds,  fortunately  without  other 
weapons  than  those  afforded  them  by  Nature, 
fighting  main  after  main  with  all  the  savage  vigour 
and  combative  spirit  which  they  displayed  in  the 
Philippines  twelve  months  ago. 

INTERESTING  OPERATIONS. 

I  was  initiated  in  the  whole  art  and  mystery  of 
the  making  of 
the  pictures,  and 
spent  some  time 
in  the  dark  cells 
in  which  much 
of  the  operation 
goes  on.  There 
is,  to  begin  with, 
the  unperforated 
film  to  be  passed 
through  a  per- 
forator, which 
punches  a  row  of 
holes  in  either 
side  with  such 
exactitude  that 
every  hole  fits 
every  cog  in  any 
one  of  the  900 
bioscopes  which 
are  now  in  active 
use.  After  the 
perforation,  the 
film  is  carefully 
packed  in  light- 
proof  cases,  ready 
for  use.     After  it 

has  all  been  exposed  in  the  camera,  and  every  inch 
of  the  1 50  feet  has  halted  for  one-fortieth  of  a  second 
behind  the  eye  of  the  lens,  it  is  then  taken  off  the  reel 
and  wound  round  the  horizontal  metal  cross,  from 
the  four  arms  of  which  a  number  of  pins  project 
vertically.  The  film  is  wound  round  these  pins, 
beginning  at  the  centre,  which  is  mounted  on  a 
vulcanite  roller  inserted  in  an  iron  standard.  When 
the  film  is  wound  in  the  frame,  so  as  to  form  a 
kind  of  square  spiral,  it  is  lifted  from  the  iron  base, 
and  the  vulcanite  roller  used  as  a  handle,  so  as  to 
enable  the  operator  to  immerse  the  film  in  the 
developer  without  soiling  his  hands.  After  being 
developed  and  further  treated,  it  is  then  wound  off 
the  developing  frame  upon  a  large  wooden  ribbed 
drum,  heated  with  gas-jets  in  the  centre  and 
revolving  rapidly  by  electric  motor,  the  Wrying 
process   assisted   by   utilising  a   battery  of  electric 


The  Bioscope  in  Italy  :   The  Pigeons  of  St.   Mark's, 


fans.  Here  it  remains  for  half  an  hour  or  forty 
minutes,  until  it  is  dried,  and  the  negative  is  then 
ready  for  printing.  The  developed  ribbon  of  film, 
having  been  wound  off  the  drying  drum,  ex  imined 
and  cleaned,  is  attached  to  another  ribbon  of  film 
upon  which  the  picture  is  to  be  printed.  The  two 
films  are  then  passed  together  through  a  machine 
which  is  in  many  respects  the  counterpart  of  the 
camera  and  of  the  projecting  machine  ;  that  is  to 
say,  the  film  is  passed  through  a  machine  very  much 
like  the  projector,  but  the  light  which  is  thrown  upon 
th:,'  aperture  across  which  the  double  film  travels  is 
only  used  for  the  purpose  of  printing  the  picture 
from  the  negative,  not  to  project  it.  The  rate  at 
which  the  film  passes  varies  according  to  the 
density  of  the  negative  or  the  brilliancy  of  the  light. 
At  Warwick  Court  they  used  electric  lights,  and 
wound  off  150  feet  of  film  in  about  five  minutes. 
After  having  been  printed,  the  ribbon  is  again 
wound  upon  a  frame  and  immersed  in  a  developing 
and  fixing  solution,  after  which  it  is  again  wound 
off  upon  the  drying  drum,  where  after  another 
twenty  minutes'  drying  it  is  examined  and  cleaned, 

wound  off  upon  a 
reel,  enclosed  in 
a  tin  box,  and  is 
ready  for  use. 

GREAT   EVENTS 
RECORnED. 

The  rapidity 
with  which  the 
whole  process  can 
be  accomplished 
is  amazing.  On 
the  Oxford  and 
Cambridge  boat- 
race  day  150  feet 
of  film,  containing 
2,400  pictures, 
was  ready  for 
exhibition  in  three 
hours  after  the 
arrival  of  the 
camera  at  the 
works.  As  a  rule 
1 50  feet  is  re- 
gard ed  as  a  good 
working  length 
for  an  animated 
picture.  It  is  not  well  to  weary  the  audience 
by  too  long  a  film.  One  of  the  longest  films 
was  that  representing  the  funeral  of  Queen 
Victoria.  Every  stage  in  the  long  procession 
from  Osborne  to  St.  George's  Chapel  was  photo- 
graphed by  the  Warwick  Trading  Company,  eleven 
cameras  and  operators  recording  every  stage  of  the 
ceremonies  and  procession.  Their  works  were  kept 
going  night  and  day  after  the  funeral,  nor  were  they 
able  for  some  time  to  overtake  the  orders  which 
poured  in  from  all  parts.  Everyone  wanted  them 
at  once.  To-day  there  is  but  little  demand  for  these 
pictures,  the  interest  in  the  Royal  funeral  having 
long  ago  spent  itself  It  is  with  films  as  it  is  with 
newspapers.  A  million  people  will  buy  to-day's 
paper  for  ten  who  purchase  the  paper  of  the  day 
before  yesterday.  The  complete  set  of  these  films 
of  the  funeral  ran  from  4,000  to  5,000  feet. 

N 


178 


The  A  jnencanisation  of  the   World, 


A  very  excellent  picture,  more  recent  than 
that  of  Oueen  Victoria's  funeral,  is  that 
\\  hich  exhibits  the  funeral  procession  of  the 
ICmprcss  Frederick. 

The  cinematograph  is,  however,  by  no 
means  exclusively  or  even  primarily  employed 
for  funeral  processions.  It  is  more  at  home 
in  pageants  and  festal  processions.  Some 
|)ictures  taken  of  the  procession  on  the 
occasion  of  the  opening  of  the  first  Australian 
Parliament  in  Melbourne  give  a  very  vivid 
idea  of  the  ceremonies  and  processions  in 
all  Australian  cities  visited  by  the  Royal 
couple. 

One  of  the  simplest  but  nevertheless  one 
of  the  most   effective  pictures  exhibited   is 
that  showing  the  procession  of  the  torpedo- 
boat   destroyers    on    the    occasion    of    the 
opening  of  the  Manchester  Ship  Canal.     As 
you  sit  watching  the  screen,  the  canal-gates 
open,    and  the  long  black   hull  of  the   destroyer 
forges  its  way  through  the  foaming  water.     It  is 
difficult  to  realise  that  you  are  not  actually  seeing 
a  veritable  ship.    The  effect,  when  again  and  again 
renewed,    is   a    marvel  of  realistic  accuracy.     The 
camera  on  that  occasion  was   located    on   a   tug 
which  went  about  a  quarter  the  speed  of  the  torpedo- 
boats  whose  movements  were  photographed. 

WAR   PICTURES. 

One  of  the  greatest  successes  of  the  cinemato- 
graph has  been  in  the  presentation  of  scenes  from 
the  seat  of  war,  and  yet  it  may  be  safely  said  that 
here  we  have  witnessed  one  of  its  greatest  failures. 
The  success  lay  in  the  machine  :  the  failure  was 
due  to  the  revolution  which  has  taken  place  in 
modern  warfare.  The  war  was  hardly  well  begun 
before  the  Warwick  Trading  Company  had 
despatched  three  operators  to  accompany  the 
British  troops  operating  in  various  sections  of 
South  Africa  and  in  their  march  to  Pretoria. 
l-2ach  operator  was  equipped  by  the  Warwick 
Trading  Company  with  two  mules,  a  Cape  cart 
and  camping  and  bioscope  outfits.  Upon  long 
marches  of  the  troops  the  "  Warwick  "  carts  took 
their  places :  side  by  side  with  the  regular  war 
correspondents.  When  reconnoitring  or  scouting 
the  cameras  were  slung  over  the  back  of  one  mule. 


-©6*'--^ 


Portability  essential  for  Skirmish  and  Scouting  Work. 


The  Bioscope  Cart  on  the  March— Transvaal. 


the  other  being  mounted  by  the  operator  who 
accompanied  the  troops,  while  the  assistant 
watched  the  balance  of  the  outfit  in  camp  and  re- 
loaded a  relay  instrument  ready  in  case  of  accident. , 
Mr.  Rosenthal,  the  chief  bioscope  correspondent, 
with  his  camera,  rode  all  the  way  in  the  front  of  the 
British  army  through  Bloemfontein,  Kroonstad,  and 
Pretoria.  He  used  15,000  ft.  of  film  in  photo- 
graphing scenes  on  march,  and  he  would  have  used 
5,000  more  if  the  ubiquitous  De  Wet  had  not 
seized  the  fourth  5,000  ft.  of  film  at  his  lucky  haul 
at  Roodevaal.  But  although  these  operators  were 
able  to  secure  some  marvellously^  living  pictures  of 
every  phase  of  army  life  and  historic  incidents  in 
the  Transvaal,  they  were  never  able  to  secure  a 
single  battle  picture  although  being  in  battle  many 
times.  On  one  occasion  Mr.  Rosenthal  had  a 
horse  killed  under  him.  On  others  shells  burst  in 
his  immediate  neighbourhood  ;  but  although  he 
was  constantly  at  the  front,  taking  living  pictures 
wherever  he  could  find  them,  he  utterly  failed 
to  secure  any  photograph  which  could  be  described 
by  any  stretch  of  the  imagination  as  a  battle 
picture.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  there  are  no 
battle  pictures  nowadays.  The  nearest  approach 
to  such  a  picture  is  a  photograph  of  a  battery  in 
action,  but  an  equally  good  picture  could  be 
obtained  by  photographing  a  battery^  firing  at 
Woolwich  or  at  Aldershot.  Mr.  Rosenthal's 
bitter  disappointment  in  this  respect  brought 
into  clear  relief  the  fundamental  difference 
between  ancient  and  modern  war.  Although 
he  was  seven  months  in  the  forefront  of  the 
British  army,  and  present  at  all  the 
battles  that  took  place  during  that  period, 
he  never  saw  a  single  Boer  at  range 
near  enough  to  be  photographed.  In 
all  the  battles  in  which  he  took  part  the 
enemy  was  not  visible.  The  bullets  hissed 
and  skipped  around  our  men,  but  there  was 
nothing  on  the  horizon,  east,  west,  north  or 
south,  to  show  where  lay  the  marksmen  with 
the  Mausers.  In  war  in  the  antiquated 
style,  which  still  seems  to  be  believed  in 
in  Germany  and  France,  there  was  ample 
opportunity  for  the  camera  to  obtain  the 
most  thrilling  pictures.  But  war  in  the  days 
of  Maskelyne  powder  and  long-range  guns 
won't  lend  itself  to  pictorial  display. 


The  Mission  of  the  Cinematograph. 


179 


Bioscope  CoriCbpoiidciil's  Camp  Equipment 

Mr.  Rosenthal,  after  leaving  South  Africa, 
followed  the  allied  armies  to  I'ekin,  and  although 
he  found  plenty  of  traces  of  ruin  and  devastation 
wrought  by  the  avenging  troops  of  the  so-called 
Powers,  he  came  too  late  to  see  any  actual 
fighting,  Mr.  Rosenthal  may  be  regarded  in 
some  respects  as  the  latest  evolution  of  the 
special  war  correspondent.  He  was  the  first  to 
be  recognised  in  the  official  capacity  of  accredited 
war  correspondent,  and  although  he  represented  no 
paper,  his  position  was  never  questioned.  The 
Warwick  Trading  Company,  as  the  purveyor  of 
films  to  the  showmen  of  the  world,  necessarily 
adopts  the  methods  and  organisation  of  a  great 
newspaper.  It  has  its  correspondents  and  camera 
operators  all  over  the  world.  Wherever  anything 
is  likely  to  happen  of  importance  or  of  scenic 
interest,  there  its  "special"  waits,  camera  in  hand, 
to  preserve  for  the  benefit  of  British  music-halls 
and  provincial  lecture-rooms  the 
living  image  of  things  as  they  are. 

An  American  cinematograph  com- 
pany was  fortunate  enough  to  have 
had  its  instrument  in  position  to  have 
photographed  Mr. McKinley  at  Buffalo 
immediately  before  his  assassination, 
and  to  have  photographed  the  dis- 
tracted crowd  as  it  rushed  tumultu- 
ously  hither  and  thither  on  receiving 
the  terrible  news  of  the  President's 
murder. 


PRIVATE  OKDKRS    INCRKASING. 

With  the  cinematograph  company, 
as  it  is  with  the  newspaper,  every- 
thing depends  upon  serving  up  their 
films  hot  from  the  press  ;  and  they 
also  re-semblc  a  newspaper  in  the 
fact  that  it  is  becoming  more  and 
more  necessary  to  localise  the  institu- 
tion. The  demand  for  living  pictures 
of  events  in  the  various  localities 
increases  daily.  Soon  every  local 
flower   show   will   consider  that  it  is 


behind  the  times  unless  it  has  pre- 
served a  cinematograph  record  of 
the  opening  ceremony  or  the  dis- 
tribution of  prizes.     The  cinemato- 
graph is  becoming  not  merely  an 
indispensable      adjunct      to      the 
chroniclers  of  local   history,  but  it 
is    being  adapted  more  and  more 
as  a  family  record.    If,  for  instance, 
there  is  a  wedding  in  your  family, 
and   you  wish  to  preserve   a    per- 
manent record  of  the  ceremony,  all 
that  you  have  to  do  is  to  write  to 
Warwick    Court,    and    when    the 
britlal  procession  leaves  the  church 
and  comes  out   into  sunshine,  the 
bioscope   camera  will    photograph 
the  whole  party,  bridegroom,  bride, 
bridesmaids,  best  man  and  parson, 
and    all    the    merry    mob   of  rice- 
sprinkling,  slipper-throwing  friends. 
The  bridal  procession  is  not  a  long 
affair,  and  the  whole  corti\i;;c  could 
be   photographed   on   fifty   feet  ot 
film,   which    will    be   developed,   printed   off  and. 
supplied  ready  for  exhibition  for  a  reasonable,  sum 
It  is  difficult  to  photograph  interiors  owing  to  the 
lack  of  good  light,  but  as  things  are  going  now  it 
will  soon  be  as  impossible  for  a  fashionable  wedding 
to   take   place   without   the   bride   receiving   as  a 
wedding  gift  a  film,  which  will  enable  her  to  repro- 
duce for  her  children  and  grandchildren  after  them 
a  picture  of  how  the  bridal  party  looked  on  the  day 
she  was  wed,  as  it  would  be  for  a  bride  to  appear 
without  a  veil  or   a   bridesmaid  without   flowers. 
Families  that  are   conimc-il-faut^  which   assumes 
that  they  can  afford  to  be  cominc-il-fai/f,  will  have 
a   family  record   consisting  of  a  kind   of  record- 
chamber  of  films,  beginning  with  a  living  picture 
of  the  bridal  party,  followed  by  the  christening  of 
each  of  the  children.     Thus  we  shall  have  each 
important  family  event,  such  as  a  coming  of  age,  or 
a  silver  wedding,  commemorated  in  like  manner, 


Lord  Stanley  posing  Bioscope  Film  Negatives  at  the  Front. 

O 


i8o 


The  Atncricanisation  of  tJie   World. 


while  the  funeral  rilms  would 

supply  a  more  sombre  element 

lo  the  collection.     It  will  then 

be  possible  for  every  member 

of  the  family  to  call  back  as 

it  W(?re  from  the  dim  shadows 

of    the    misty    past    a    living 

image  of  those  who  lived  and 

loved  and  laughed  in  the  days 

long  gone  by.     If  in  addition 

to  those  photographic  films  of 

living  pictures  there  should  be 

stored     permanent     cylinders 

with  phonographic  records  of 

the   actual   voices   that    have 

long  since  been   stilled,   it    is 

evident  that  modern  science  is 

at    least    providing   for   those 

who      can      pay      for     it     an 

immense    improvement    upon 

the    simple    written    record    of    the     old    family 

Bible. 

The  bioscope  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  reached 
the  stage  of  development  when  it  can  be  regarded 
as  one  of  the  domestic  necessaries  of  a  well- 
appointed  household.  But  notwithstanding  its 
costliness,  it  has  established  its  reputation  as  a 
money-maker  in  the  hands  of  showmen  who  know 
how  to  use  it.  A  very  short  time  ago,  if  anyone 
had  asked  what  chance  there  was  of  popularising 
an  invention  which  would  entail  an  expenditure  of 
^50  before  the  start,  and  would  necessitate  a  pur- 
chase of  at  least  ;^5o  worth  of  films  in  order  to 
supply  an  hour's  entertainment,  he  would  have 
been  told  that  the  risk  was  too  great,  and  the  pros- 
pects of  a  yield  too  small.  But  so  far  from  this 
being  the  case,  there  are  now  at  this  moment  700 
cinematograph  operators  busily  engaged  in  show- 
ing living  pictures  up  and  down  the  country,  and 
six  times  as  many  in  other  countries,  and  the 
demand  for  films  and  machines  grows  steadily. 

THE  REAL  MISSION  OF  THE  CINEMATOGRAPH. 
But  the  cinematograph,  although  launched  with 
brilliant  success  as  a  showman's  attraction,  has  yet 
to  begin  its  real  work  of  usefulness.  At  present  it 
is  little  more  than  a  thing  to  make  people  stare, 
which  is  very-  good  in  itself ;  but  while  it  ministers 
to  the  curiosity  and  adds  one  more  to  the  endless 
dissipations  of  modern  life,  it  has  never  been 
systeniatically  yoked  to  the  cause  of  popular  in- 
struction. The  school  boards,  for  instance,  have 
not  yet  begun  to  purchase  bioscopes.  Not  even 
the  Recreative  Evenings  Association  has  ventured 
to  embark  upon  the  small  expenditure  that  would 
be  entailed  in  purchasing  and  working  a  cine- 
matograph, although  the  Salvation  Army  in  Eng- 
land and  Australia,  the  Ragged  School  Union,  and 
Royal  Mission  to  Deep  Sea  Fishermen  have  realised 
the  value  of  the  bioscope  in  their  benevolent  and 
educational  work.  Yet  it  is  obvious  that  no 
adjunct  of  the  schoolroom  could  be  conceived 
more  certain  to  stimulate  the  inattentive  mind  of 
the  scholar  and  rouse  him  to  a  living  interest  in 
the  lessons  over  which  he  pores  with  too  often  list- 
less mind.  Whether  it  be  in  geography  or  histor)', 
it  is  easy  to  see  the  immense  variety  of  uses  that 
could  be  made  of  the   living  picture.      With  the 


The  Bioscope  in  China ;    Chinese  mounting  a  Big  Gun  at  Taku. 


aid  of  the  cinematograph  the  teacher  could  in  very 
truth  carry  his  scholars  with  him  round  the  world 
from  China  to  Peru.  Instead  of  learning  dry,  more 
or  less  unmeaning  facts,  ever)'  lesson  in  geography 
could  be  linked  on  to  a  living  representation  of  the 
country  and  the  people  to  which  the  lesson  applied. 
In  the  history  class  also,  when  we  have  impres- 
sions of  bioscope  films  as  cheap  and  as  varied 
as  a  library  of  books,  pupils  will  not  read  about  the 
historical  scenes  ;  they  will  actually  see  them  in 
progress  before  them.  All  the  advantage  of  seeing 
a  well-mounted  historical  play  at  the  Lyceum  or 
Drury  Lane  could  be  placed  at  the  disposition  of 
every  child  in  our  public  schools. 

It  may  be  said  that  this  would  leave  too  little 
to  the  imagination.  But  this  is  a  mistake.  Ev.en 
if  the  scheme  were  carried  out  to  its  very  ultimate, 
and  every  important  historical  event  were  cine- 
matographed  as  part  of  the  history-lesson  of  the 
day,  there  would  still  be  ample  room  left  for  the 
exercise  of  the  imagination.  Suppose,  for  instance, 
that  the  battle  of  Hastings  or  the  battle  of  Water- 
loo were  represented  in  a  series  of  living  pictures. 
There  would  still  be  both  before  and  after  an  end- 
less vista  in  which  the  imagination  of  the  scholar 
could  revel.  The  fact  is  the  chief  difficulty  of  the 
instructor  is  not  to  find  fields  in  which  the  imagina- 
tion can  work,  but  to  get  the  imagination  to  work 
at  all,  especially  the  visualising  eye  of  the  imagina- 
tion. None  of  us  adequately  conjure  up  with  a 
sufficient  degree  of  vividness  the  details  of  the 
historical  scenes  upon  which  we  dwell.  If,  how- 
ever, we  could  actually  see,  for  instance,  the  execu- 
tion of  Charles  I.  or  the  burning  of  Cranmer  there 
would  be  projected  into  our  consciousness  a  real 
bit  of  actuality,  and  our  imaginations  would  build 
to  the  right  and  left  of  it,  making  an  endeavour 
at  least  to  construct  the  edifice  of  as  solid  and 
palpable  visible  material  as  that  which  has  been 
thrown  upon  the  screen. 

The  Bioscope'  Company  have  already  made  a 
beginning  in  this  direction,  for  besides  the  pictures 
wh,ich  they  photographed  from  a  living  page  of 
contemporary  history,  they  have  endeavoured  to 
reconstruct  the  past.  They  have  selected,  with  a 
sound  instinct,  the  romantic,  miraculous,  and 
pathetic  story  of  Jeanne  D'Arc.  This  is  an  im- 
portation  from    France,   for   as   yet   no   one    has 


The  Mission  of  the  Ciueiuatograpli. 


i8i 


attempted  to  stage,  for  photographic  reproduction, 
anything  approaching  to  the  elaborate  drama  of 
which  Jeanne  D'Arc  was  the  heroine.  In  the 
cinematograph  spectacle  of  Jeanne  D'Arc  there 
are  twelve  scenes,  covering  800  feet  of  film,  the 
exhibition  of  which  lasts  for  about  fifteen  minutes 
without  a  stop.  This,  however,  is  to  make  the 
worst  possible  use  of  it.  Each  of  the  twelve  scenes 
should  be  opened  and  closed  by  the  telling  of  the 
story  of  the  events  to  which  it  belongs.  In  secur- 
ing the  Jeanne  D'Arc  scenes  500  persons  were 
employed  who  were  clothed  in  costumes  and 
armour  of  the  period.  This  is  very  French,  and 
would  shock  many  English  people,  although  when 
I  was  down  in  Glasgow  there  were  everywhere  bills 
on  the  hoardings  announcing  that  the  stoiy  of 
Jeanne  D'Arc  was  to  be  presented  every  day  by 
the  cinematograph  to  the  citizens  of  Glasgow. 

THE   PASSION    PLAY   BIOSCOPED. 

This  brings  us  directly  to  another  great  field  for 
the  use  of  the  cinematograph,  upon  which  it  has  only 
begun  to  enter,  and  that  is  the  field  of  religious 
instruction.  Lantern  services  have  long  been 
recognised  as  one  of  the  most  effective  adjuncts  of 
religious  propaganda,  liut  the  best  magic  lantern 
is  nothing  to  the  bioscope.  It  is  a  mistake, 
however,  to  treat  them  as  if  they  were  in 
antagonism  to  each  other,  for  every  bioscope 
is  primarily  a  magic  lantern,  and  can  be  used  to 
l)roject  ordinary  pictures  by  simply  turning  the 
bioscope  mechanism,  and  allowing  the  lights  of 
the  lantern  to 'play  directly  upon  the  screen,  with- 
out passing  through  the  apparatus  necessary  for 
projecting  living  pictures.  In  the  printed  catalogue 
of  the  Warwick  Company,  with  descriptions  which 
cover  more  than  300  pages,  there  is  only  one  set 
of  films  relating  to  religious  subjects.  It  is  one  of 
the  longest,  and  it  is  divided  into  thirty  sections, 
with  a  total  length  of  2,500  feet  of  film.  It  is 
entitled  "  The  Life  and  Passion  of  Christ."  and  is 
known  as  the  Horitz  Passion  Play  scries.  The 
excellent  village  fathers  of  Oberammergau  were 
approached  by  the  cinematograph  companies  with 
urgent  requests  and  lavish  offers  of  money  to  be 
.illowed  to  photograph  the  Passion  Plav  for 
the  purpose  ot  re[)roclucing  it  as  a  living 
picture,  but  without  meeting  with  their  consent 
Nothing  daunted,  the  Bioscope  Company  repre- 
sentatives approached  the  Horitz  Passion  Play 
authorities,  and  finally  induced  them  to  give 
special  performances  of  the  entire  production.  .\ 
special  outdoor  stage  of  huge  dimensions  was  con- 
structed, special  "  photographic  "  scenery  (in  black 
and  white)  was  designed  and  painted,  and  over 
three  weeks'  time  of  a  special  staff  of  operators 
was  consumed  before  satisfactor}'  results  were 
obtained,  owing  to  occasional  unfavourable  weather 
conditions  arising  which  were  detrimental  to  photo- 
graphic success,  etc.  Although  this  series  was 
photographed  over  two  years  ago,  the  Warwick 
i'rading  Company  has,  for  obvious  reasons,  with- 
held them  from  the  market  until  just  recently. 
This  series  will  be  in  considerable  demand,  and 
according  to  those  who  have  exhibited  other  similar 
series,  even  of  a  cnide  representation,  and  have 
witnessed  its  exhibition,  the  effect  of  its  production, 
even  as  a  middle  turn  in  a  music-hall,  has   been 


excellent.  It  is  as  if  from  the  stage  of  the  music- 
hall  the  revellers  were  addressed  upon  the  most 
solemn  of  all  themes  by  the  most  eloquent  of  all 
preachers.  The  incongruity  of  the  surroundings 
will  probably  not  deter  a  fervid  evangelist  from 
seizing  the  opportunity  of  presenting  the  Story  of 
the  Cross  ;  and  the  Warwick  Company  maintain 
that,  instead  of  being  denounced  by  the  pious  for 
the  pictures  of  the  Passion,  it  ought  to  be  imputed 
to  them  for  righteousness.  It  is,  however,  a  mis- 
take to  think  that  the  films  of  the  Passion  are 
chiefly  used  at  music-halls.  They  are,  on  the  con- 
trary, used  at  special  services.  Those  who  lecture 
on  the  Passion  Play  with  a  magic  lantern  can  well 
imagine  how  much  greater  must  be  the  effect  pro- 
duced when  the  whole  of  the  events  of  the  sacred 
tragedy  move  before  the  spectator  on  the  screen. 
The  seating  capacity  of  our  churches  would  be 
fully  taxed  if  some  enterprising  minister  would 
thus  represent  this  interesting  production  and  cut 
short  a  dry  sermon. 

IN   RELIGIOUS   AND   SOCIAL  WORK. 

With  this  exception,  little  or  nothing  has  been 
done  to  utilise  the  bioscope  for  purposes  of 
religious  teaching.  It  is  noteworthy,  however,  that 
the  Salvation  .Army,  that  most  modern  of  all 
churches,  is  the  only  religious  body  that  has  ac- 
quitted itself  with  the  bioscope,  and  has  laid  in  a 
complete  stock  of  the  apparatus  necessary  for  pro- 
ducing its  own  films.  Its  example  will  probably  be 
followed  by  the  Church  Army  and  other  religious 
organisations,  who  will  use  it  in  the  first  instance 
for  the  exhibition  of  what  may  be  called  the 
philanthropic  department  of  their  activities.  But 
in  time  all  those  who  are  engaged  in  the  attempt 
to  convert  their  fellow-men  will  utilise  this  admir- 
able instrument  for  compelling  the  members  of 
their  congregations  to  realise  the  need  there  is 
for  consecrated  service  in  the  salvation  of  the 
world. 

Mission  work  is  another  vast  field  which  has 
hardly  been  attacked.  The  bioscope  is  useful  at 
both  ends.  In  the  field  at  home,  where  funds  are 
collected  for  missions,  it  would  give  a  much  more 
vivid,  living  interest  to  the  details  of  missionary 
work  than  has  hitherto  been  possible.  Tlu' 
missionary  meeting  would  be  transformed,  antl 
become  one  of  the  most  popular  of  all  the  wcck- 
night  services  if  it  were  illustrated  by  living  pictures 
introducing  the  audience  to  lifelike  presentations 
of  the  far-off  scenes  and  peoples  amongst  whom 
the  proceeds  of  their  collection  boxes  maintain  tlie 
emissaries  of  the  Cross.  At  the  other  end,  a 
complete  library  of  the  films  of  the  parables  ami 
living  pictures  of  the  Bible  stories  would  be  an 
endless  and  inexhaustible  source  of  attraction  to 
the  simple  children  of  Nature  amidst  whom 
missionaries  labour.  The  picture  itself  would  be 
little  short  of  miraculous,  and  would  probably  do 
more  to  carry  conviction  as  to  the  truth  of  the 
Christian  religion  to  their  untutored  minds  than  the 
most  eloquent  discourses. 

IN    MISSIONARY   \VORK— 

But  in  its  adaptation  to  these  fields  of  missionary 
enterprise  there  is  the  initial  expense  to  be  over- 
come.    If,   however,   showmen    find    the   bioscope 


I  82 


The  Americanisation  of  tlie   World. 


pays  its  expenses  and  leaves  something  over, 
churches  may  make  the  same  discovery.  It  is 
possible  that  no  particular  church  or  chapel  may 
consider  itself  justified  in  going  to  the  expense 
of  a  hundred  pounds  for  providing  the  complete  set 
of  apparatus,  but  there  is  no  reason  why  a  diocese 
or  a  Free  Church  Federation  in  any  particular 
county  should  not  provide  a  bioscope  as  part  of  the 
regular  stock-in-trade  of  its  church  militant,  and 
maintain  a  cinematograph  missionarj'  who  would 
make  his  rounds  from  church  to  church  or  from 
schoolroom  to  schoolroom.  The  churches  have  at 
least  an  organisation  which  could  be  utilised  at 
once.  There  is  no  reason  why  the  bioscope  might 
not  even  be  made  a  source  of  re\enue.  People 
pay  to  go  and  see  living  pictures  in  the  music- 
hall,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  they  should  not 
pay  to  see  them  in  church.  At  the  same  time  those 
who  have  moqey  and  are  desirous  of  doing  good 
by  endowing  some  institution  for  popular  evangelism 
might  do  very  much  worse  than  set  aside 
a  few  thousands  for  the  purpose  of  endowing  a 
section  of  the  Church  to  which  they  belong  with  a 
set  of  bioscopes  to  begin  with,  and  a  small  annual 
income  for  the  purpose  of  buying  fresh  films. 
Diocese  could  exchange  films  with  diocese,  or 
county  with  county.  The  Sunday  School  Union, 
the  Religious  Tract  Society,  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society,  the  London  City  Mission, 
could  all  follow  the  example  of  the  Deep  Sea  Mission, 
which  has  already  an  admirable  set  of  films,  which 
they  have  found  to  be  of  great  service  in  bringing 
home  to  their  members  the  needs  of  their  interest- 
ing and  adventurous  congregation.  It  would  not 
require  very  much  organising  genius  on  the  part 
of  the  Free  Churches  to  form  a  Free  Church 
liioscope  Society,  which  would  aim  at  securing  for 
every  Free  Church  Federation  in  every  county  in 
England  a  first-class  bioscope  and  a  good  collection 
of  films,  and  providing  a  competent  lecturer  and 
operator  who  could  be  dedicated  to  the  work.  I 
throw  out  this  suggestion  for  what  it  is  worth,  and 
should  be  very  glad  to  receive  communications 
from  those  in  any  part  of  the  kingdom  who  wish  to 
make  the  experiment.  It  requires  organisation,  for 
the  expense  is  more  than  most  individuals  or  even 
separate  churches 
could  be  expected 
to  incur.  With  a 
little  organisa- 
tion, however,  a 
good  business 
man  ought  to  be 
able  to  set  the 
bioscope  peram- 
bulating on  its 
mission  of  evan- 
gelisation in  all 
the  counties  of 
the  land. 

— AND    SURGERY. 

There  is  one 
other  sphere  of 
usefulness  to 
which  allusion 
must  be  made, 
and     that    is   the 


service  which  the  bioscope  can  render  to  medical 
science.  Oneof  the  most  important  partsof  the  train- 
ing of  doctors  is  the  witnessing  of  operations.  The 
bioscope  renders  it  possible  to  reproduce  endlessly, 
under  circumstances  which  permit  of  the  most  close 
and  leisurely  study,  scenes  which  at  present  can 
only  be  witnessed  in  the  operating  theatres  of  our 
hospitals.  A  great  surgeon  performs  some  difficult 
operation  with  perfect  success,  and  all  those  who 
witness  it  cherish  the  memor}-  of  that  exhibition  ot 
skill  as  long  as  they  live  ;  but  what  of  the 
enormous  multitude  of  medicos  who  have  never 
witnessed  it  and  have  no  opportunity  of  seeing  it  ? 
But  even  of  the  few  who  were  privileged  to  be 
present  in  the  operating  theatre,  how  many  would 
wish  to  see  it  over  again,  if  only  to  imprint  more 
indelibly  on  their  minds  the  way  in  which  the  work 
was  done  !  The  bioscope  offers  to  all  an  opportunity 
of  witnessing  reproductions  of  the  most  difficult 
and  delicate  operations  of  modern  surgery.  The 
time  is  coming  when  every  operation  of  exceptional 
importance  will  be  photographed  with  the  most 
scrupulous  care  by  scientifically  trained  operators, 
and  films  of  ever)-  supremely  successful  operation 
will  form  part  of  the  necessar)'  plant  of  all  medical 
colleges.  Victims  for  the  operator's  table  cannot 
always  be  laid  on  for  the  sake  of  improving  the 
education  of  our  budding  medicos,  but  a  very  little 
extension  of  the  scope  of  the  cinematograph  would 
render  it  possible  for  every  medical  student  in  the 
land  to  see  ever}-  important  operation  performed 
by  masters  of  the  surgical  art  with  the  same 
certainty  that  he  would  be  able  to  buy  his  Lancet 
or  his  medical  dictionary.  Surgical  science  is  of 
no  country,  and  pictures  speak  a  universal  language. 
But  at  present,  with  very  few  exceptions,  no 
arrangements  are  made  for  securing  the  permanent 
preservation  of  the  sight  of  important  operations. 
The  suggestion  is  well  worth  while  bringing  before 
the  attention  of  leaders  of  the  profession  and  heads 
of  colleges  and  of  the  institutions  where  doctors 
are  being  trained  for  the  next  generation.  A 
lecturer  in  surgery  would  find  his  task  enormously 
facilitated  if  a  first-class  bioscope,  with  a  carefully- 
selected  collection  of  films,  formed  part  of  the 
permanent  apparatus  of  his  class-room. 


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